China Institute of International Studies is the first specialized institution of the People's Republic of China focusing on international studies, and was established on November 24, 1956. In 2017, the institute was selected as a candidate unit of China Top Think Tanks; and in 2020, it was approved as a pilot unit. The institute is also home to China's first research center for Xi Jining Thought on Diplomacy.

African studies are conducted in the Department for Developing Countries Studies of the institute, which was originally the Fourth Research Office, and then the Division for Developing Countries Studies, of China Department of International Studies. In 2014, as China Department of International Studies was renamed China Institute of International Studies, the Division for Developing Countries Studies was correspondingly transformed into the Department for Developing Countries Studies, which is one of the eight specialized departments of China Institute of China International Studies. African studies are a key research focus of the Department for Developing Countries Studies. The development goal of the institute is to build a first-level unit of China Top Think Tanks to serve the country's diplomacy, particularly its diplomacy with Africa. China Institute of International Studies has trained a large number of diplomatic talents for China, some of whom became Chinese ambassadors and senior diplomats to African countries. The journal of the institute China International Studies (Chinese and English editions) irregularly publishes research articles of domestic and foreign scholars on African region and China-Africa relations, exerting much influence at home and abroad.

https://www.ciis.org.cn/english/AboutUs/Departments/DevelopingCountriesStudies/