As early as 1930s, the scholars of Zhongshan University had published a few theses, which focus on overseas Chinese. From 1950s, the professors of the university paid much attention to the overseas Chinese studies, including the history of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and Chinese Americans. But most of the thesis and papers focused on the coolie trade and the anti-Chinese movement in Southeast Asia and the U.S. Since the beginning of 1980s, the university has worked with UCLA of United States, University of Hong Kong, the Institute of Asian Studies of Chulalongkorn University and the Institute of East Asian Studies of Thammasat University in Thailand on overseas Chinese cooperative studies. It held the International Symposium on overseas Chinese’s, the first one in Mainland China in 1985.

          In the past twenty years, the overseas Chinese studies in Zhongshan University pays a great attention to collect the local materials relating to history of overseas Chinese and published a lot of academic books, such as ‘History of Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia”, “China’s Policy towards Overseas Chinese During the Late Qing Dynasty,1840-1911”, “ International Emigration of Guangdong Province”, “Chinese Historical Records on the Philippines”, “Studies on Modern Chinese Remittances in Guangdong Province”, “Biography of Famous Overseas Chinese from Guangdong Province”, “History of Sino-Southeast Asian Relations”, “Tiuchou Chinese in Thailand”, “Records of Coolies”, “History of Ethnic Chinese in Modern Southeast Asia”, “Sun Yetsen and Overseas Chinese”, “Chinese Temples in Thailand”, etc.  Meanwhile, the  researchers of the university are studying on history of Burma, history of Chinese remittances, the religion in villages of Guangdong, overseas Chinese women in Southeast Asia, Ethnic Chinese Economy in Contemporary Southeast Asia .