China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies

China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies (CIBOS) of Wuhan University was founded in 2007 under the guidance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. CIBOS is a multidisciplinary research center that integrates the strengths of Wuhan University in international law, world history, world economy, water resources and hydropower engineering, geodesy and geometrics. Besides research and training programs for the professionals, CIBOS boasts unique postgraduate programs on international law for boundary and ocean studies.

Key research areas of CIBOS are as follows:

I. Land boundary disputes and cooperation

Management and resolution of to China-India boundary dispute; borderland governance, border control and security, boundary management; border trade and cross-border economic cooperation; transboundary water disputes and cooperation; transboundary environmental problems.

II. Islands sovereignty and maritime delimitation

Theories and practices of international law concerning territorial and maritime disputes; territorial disputes over Diaoyu Dao (Diaoyu Islands) and Nan Hai Zhu Dao (South China Sea Islands); maritime delimitation in the East China Sea and South China Sea; history of Diaoyu Dao and history of the South China Sea.

III. Maritime rights and cooperation

The law of the sea and maritime rights; joint development and maritime cooperation; environmental protection of the ocean; admiralty, maritime affairs and ocean governance; protection and governance of the Polar Regions.

IV. Maritime strategy and boundary diplomacy

China’s national maritime strategy; the world’s major powers’ maritime strategies; “one belt and one road” strategy, China’s neighbor policy and its boundary and ocean policy; China’s land and maritime boundary diplomacy.

V. Boundary and Ocean Science and Technology

Technologies for delimitation, demarcation of land and maritime boundaries, boundary surveillance, control and management, such as survey and mapping, remote sensing and GIS; technologies for transboundary water management, such as hydropower engineering and hydrology; digital land and maritime boundary management system.

Link:China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies