The Center for Sino-German Cooperation in Marine Sciences (SGMS) was established on February 24, 2011. It was jointly initiated by 5 research and educational institutions, including OUC, the University of Bremen, the University of Kiel, the Leibniz Institute for Marine Science, and the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research. It is a high-level research and educational cooperation platform in marine science supported by the Chinese Ministry of Education and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Headquartered at OUC, SGMS is operated by the Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography of the Ministry of Education, with Prof. Chen Xianyao serving as the director. The center also has offices in Kiel and Bremen, Germany. The three universities and two institutions provide relevant support such as human resources for SGMS. The purpose of the center is to strengthen the cooperation in marine science between Chinese and German universities and research institutes.