This report, written by senior scholars of international studies and Indian Ocean studies, focuses on international relations in the Indian Ocean region and covers many aspects of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. The report covers strategic reviews, major events and related data in this region, as well as the origin and aims, frameworks and regional and global impacts of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. The contributors hail from five prominent institutes in China. Together they provide the readers a comprehensive and authentic picture of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. This year's Annual Report is the third in the series and the only one that focuses exclusively on the Indian Ocean region in China.