To thoroughly implement the national and Guangdong Provincial decisions and arrangements on strengthening the development of new-type think tanks with Chinese characteristics, and to promote the high-quality development of Guangdong's new-type social science think tanks, the Guangdong Provincial Federation of Social Sciences organized an application and evaluation process in accordance with the requirements of the *Implementation Plan for the Foundation and Ascent Program for New-Type Social Science Think Tanks (2025–2028)*. The evaluation comprehensively considered the development foundations, contributions, and social influence of each applicant think tank, ultimately designating 10 high-level think tanks and 20 key think tanks. The Indian Ocean Island Countries Research Center (RCIOIC) at South China University of Technology was successfully selected as a New-Type Key Social Science Think Tank.

The Indian Ocean Island Countries Research Center is one of the first batch of centers approved by the Department of International Cooperation and Exchange of the Ministry of Education to be established as a filing and development center for country and area studies. The center is dedicated to strategic, forward-looking, and original research on small and less-studied countries. The center has been successively recognized as a high-level development unit for country and area studies at Chinese universities by the Ministry of Education, a source think tank for the China Think Tank Index (CTTI), and an AMI Think Tank under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Think Tank Evaluation. The center sponsors and publishes several academic publications, including Island Studies Journal (SSCI-indexed), Folk, Knowledge, Place, and the Blue Book of Development of Indian Ocean Island Countries.

To date, the center's research team has been approved for more than 60 provincial/ministerial-level or higher research projects, including major special projects and general projects of the National Social Science Fund of China, projects of the Ministry of Education for country and area studies, and projects of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. The team has submitted over 200 policy consultation reports to central ministries and provincial/municipal departments; published more than 100 papers in SSCI, CSSCI, and other key academic journals; published over 70 theoretical articles in major newspapers such as People's Daily and Guangming Daily; and published over 30 academic monographs and translations with publishers including Routledge, Springer Nature, and Social Sciences Academic Press (China). The center's think tank development cases have won the AMI Think Tank Comprehensive Evaluation Reference Case Award and the CTTI Think Tank Development Benchmark Case Award. Its teaching achievements have received multiple awards, including first and second prizes of the Guangdong Provincial Teaching Achievement Award. Its research achievements have won one first prize and four second prizes of the CTTI Think Tank Research Excellence Award, as well as one first prize and three second prizes of the Guangdong Provincial Philosophy and Social Science Excellence Award.

Taking its selection as a Provincial New-Type Key Think Tank as an opportunity, the center will uphold the principles of Chinese perspective, global vision, historical mission, and contemporary responsibility. Closely centering on major national strategies and the core work of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, the center will strengthen forward-looking and strategic research, strive to produce more landmark and high-level research outcomes, effectively play a demonstrative and leading role, and build itself into a university-based think tank for Indian Ocean studies with significant influence both domestically and internationally.