The Middle East Studies Institute (MESI) of SISU has been listed in a recent published Chinese Think Tank Dictionary, which marks the second year of the institute in the dictionary.

In recent years, the MESI has signed cooperative agreements with many domestic and global think tanks, and has played an important role in policy-making consultation, public opinion guidance, personnel training, academic research, international exchanges and public diplomacy, making the institute the most influential think tank in the area of Chinese Middle East studies.

In June 2010, the Center for China-Arab States Cooperation Forum was established in the MESI approved by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was selected as Shanghai University Think Tank in 2013 and become a member of the council of Think Tank Alliance of Countries along the “Belt and Road”. In December 2016, the MESI has been selected in Chinese Think Tank Index (2017-2018). And later in January 2017, it joined the Interdisciplinary Think Tank Consortium of Humanities and Social Sciences Key Research Bases under the Ministry of Education.