中国-斯里兰卡联合科教中心（简称中斯中心）为中国科学院设在境外的非法人单元，依托南海海洋所建设，是中科院科技支撑国家“一带一路”倡议的实际举措。斯里兰卡是印度洋国际航道要冲，其周边海域是印度洋水汽进入东亚地区的主要通道，是建设“海上丝绸之路”的重要一环。

在海洋观测方面，从2010年开始每年一次执行东印度洋航次，自2012年开始在斯里兰卡南部建设热带海洋环境联合观测中心。与斯里兰卡水生资源研发署和海洋环保署合作在斯里兰卡周边海域开展航次调查和定点环境监测。

在民生需求方面，自主研发了斯里兰卡周边海域海洋气象预报系统，与斯里兰卡气象局合作，实时向相关部门发布预报信息，服务于斯里兰卡的防灾减灾。针对饮用水可能导致斯里兰卡不明原因肾病，中-斯中心在斯里兰卡开展水处理技术研究与示范合作。

在人才培养方面，在中国科学院大学的支持下，成功开办海洋科学硕士班，培养青年海洋科学人才，截止2018年底，有近40名学生在读。自2015年起，连续召开中斯系列季风气候与海洋环境变化联合研讨会，有较大的社会影响。中斯中心以实际工作践行“一带一路，科教先行”，保障各项重点合作项目的顺利实施，培养一支年轻、有活力、有志于印度洋海洋科学研究的国际队伍。

The China–Sri Lanka Joint Center for Education and Research (CSL-CER) was founded in August 2015. The Joint Center is an overseas science and education base of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), whose supporting institution is the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, CAS. Other participants include the Bureau of International Co-operation, CAS. The building organizations are the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, CAS; the Institute of Acoustics, CAS; UCAS; the University of Ruhuna; the University of Peradeniya; and the University of Moratuwa. The Chinese Director of the Center is ZHANG Changsheng, a Professor at the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, CAS.

The Indian Ocean is the third-largest ocean and is thus very important in oceanographic research. The Indo-Pacific warm pool is the energy center of the world’s oceans, where the strongest global mass and energy exchanges occur. The tremendous thermal potential of the Indo-Pacific warm pool has an important impact on climate variability in Southeast Asia and serves as a major source for low-frequency dynamic wave trains, as well as the ‘bridge’ influence of the tropical Indian Ocean and the eastern Pacific Ocean on the East Asian monsoon, a phenomenon controlling disasters such as drought, flooding, and typhoons in China, and regulating global climate change.

CSL-CER has conducted a series of research activities, including an annual scientific expedition to the eastern Indian Ocean, with many kinds of instruments installed for monsoon and ocean observation. The ‘Numerical Forecast System for the Surrounding Area of Sri Lanka,’ which was developed by the Joint Center, can provide rapid mapping on multiple scales and at multiple resolutions for numerical forecast products serving local society. The annual China–Sri Lanka Joint Workshop on Monsoon Climate and Ocean Environment has been successfully held since 2015. According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on joint Master’s degrees, so far, nearly 40 Sri Lankan students were accepted by the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), and pursuing their study in China.