中国—斯里兰卡热带海洋环境“一带一路”联合实验室是2021年8月科技部批准建设的第三批“一带一路”联合实验室之一，由中国科学院南海海洋研究所与斯里兰卡卢哈纳大学共同建设。 该实验室以热带海洋环境国家重点实验室为支撑，聚焦印度洋热带海洋环境变异的核心科技问题，致力于提升海洋气象观测与预测能力，为“一带一路”沿线航线安全提供科学支持。

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。联合实验室以实际工作践行“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 Tropical Marine Environment Belt and Road Joint Laboratory for Education and Research (CSTO) 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.

CSTO 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.