The China-Arab Reform and Development Institute of Beijing International Studies University was established due to institutional reforms in 2018. As a teaching and scientific research unit, it works together with the Center for Arabian Studies, which is one of the National and Regional Research Bases of the Ministry of Education, and the School of Middle Eastern Studies.

The Center for Arabian Studies was founded on April 1, 2012, as one of the first 42 National and Regional Research Bases approved by the Ministry of Education. Since its foundation -- entrusted by the International Division of the Ministry of Education -- it set up the Secretariat of the Committee of Experts on National and Regional Studies to assist the Ministry of Education in coordinating national and regional studies, academic review and information construction. In 2020, the center was included in the Source Think Tank of CTTI (China Think Tank Index).

In recent years, the center has established an inter-disciplinary and international research team, making bumper achievements especially in the research of regional languages of the Middle Eastern countries, and social and Islamic studies. The center has 23 full-time and part-time researchers, 87% of whom hold doctorates. There are 33 master and doctoral candidates on campus. Since its establishment, the Center for Arabian Studies has received approvals for 58 research projects at various levels, including six at the national level, 14 at the provincial and ministerial level, and 38 at the prefectural level. It has published 126 papers and more than 20 works, and finished 74 consulting reports, six of which have received positive instructions from the central leadership and national ministries. The center now has an academic journal, the Collection of Arabian Studies. Published twice a year, 10 issues have been published for six consecutive years. The journal was selected into the CNI by Social Sciences Academic Press in 2019, won the National Outstanding Academic Journal Award in 2020, and was selected into the CSSCI (2021-2022) in 2021.

Over the past years, the center has hosted the China-Lebanon Tourism Forum, the Arabian Studies Forum, the China-Morocco Cultural and Educational Exchange Seminar, released the 2019 China-Arab States Tourism Development Data Research Report, published 30 of the Asian-African Travel News, and created the WeChat account of Asian-African Travel Dynamics. Meanwhile, the center has established long-term friendly cooperation and exchanges with many renowned foreign universities and research institutions such as Ain Shams University in Egypt, Suez Canal University in Egypt, Mohammed V University in Morocco, University of Tehran in Iran, and Al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies in Egypt. Each year, over 50 percent of the students have opportunities to engage in international exchanges.

The center serves the national strategy and functions of the capital city, and has made remarkable achievements in facilitating national and regional studies and telling China's stories. It takes on the responsibility of the secretariat of the Committee of Experts on National and Regional Studies, and actively serves the International Division of the Ministry of Education and other training and education bases. In recent years, it has hosted more than 30 national and international forums and conferences, such as the China-Arab States Tourism Cooperation Forum, the China-Arab States Scholars Video Dialogue, and the "20+20" Program for Chinese and African universities, and established a Confucius Institute (Confucius Institute at Mohammed V University in Morocco) which is of global significance.