Established in 2017, Tsinghua University’s Institute for International and Area Studies (THU-IIAS) takes over the Tsinghua University Doctoral Program in Developing Country Studies (DCS), which was established in 2012, and focuses on regional and country-specific talent cultivation, academic research, etc.

Currently, the research regions covered by the IIAS include Southeast Asia, South Asia, Eurasia, West Asia and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, a total of six regions.

With the spirit of national mission, global vision and Chinese perspective, and adhering to the core competence of talent cultivation based on disciplinary integration and intense field practice, the IIAS is committed to in-depth research on countries around the world, especially on developing countries, and from the perspectives of different disciplines, such as political science, economics, sociology, public administration, history, law, foreign languages and literatures, journalism and communication, arts, ecology, and engineering and technology, carrying out fundamental research of great theoretical and practical significance, striving to break through the traditional path of area studies, and exploring “Tsinghua Area Studies” with Chinese characteristics.

The IIAS insists on basic, academic and long-term research, on talent cultivation characterized by multidisciplinary intersections and in-depth field research, and on exploring and constructing a new paradigm of area studies based on a human community with a shared future, and strives to become a top-notch and world-class institution of strategic importance in global area studies by 2030, lead the development of area studies in China, and provide strong intellectual support for China in the construction of a human community with a shared future.