Recently, the League of Tropical Universities (LTU) was intiated by Hainan University and the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), with the other six founding members including Cairo University in Egypt, Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in Indonesia, the University of São Paulo in Brazil, the University of Malaya, and the Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Malaysia.

The LTU is a pioneering organization bringing together leading research institutes and universities from tropical and related regions across Asia, Africa, and South America to advance higher education and socio-economic development in the tropical regions, home to 40% of the world's population.

The LTU has lofty aspirations for global sustainability and empowering the tropics through science-driven transformation pivotal to reaching the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The founding members have all signed on to the common commitment of developing the alliance into a powerhouse of education and innovation globally as well as contributing to the formation of a community of tropical regions.

Da Hsuan Feng, Chair of the International Advisory Board of Hainan University and Honorary Dean of Hainan University Belt and Road Research Institute, affirmed this alliance as a milestone in developing into a leading 21st century example for internationalization of higher education, which, he emphasized, would require pragmatism and shared vision between all the members.

Luo Qingming, President of Hainan University and Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) stated that“to unleash the potential of the tropics, the LTU will join forces to tackle thorny tropical development issues, particularly in food security, climate change, and public health, as well as to strengthen, expand, and clarify the dimensions of higher education internationalization among the alliance members.”