To promote global sustainability, Inner Mongolia University (IMU) and Arizona State University (ASU) jointly established the Sino-US Center for Conservation, Energy and Sustainability Science in Inner Mongolia (SUCCESS), which fosters the fusion between ASU’s rapidly growing research capacities in sustainability science and Inner Mongolia’s enormous opportunities for large-scale projects of international significance. SUCCESS is a research institute administrated by both universities. The center will focus on interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary and use-inspired research relevant to sustainability issues that occur during the socioeconomic development in Inner Mongolia, and explore general principles for global sustainable development space. Also, the center will organize a series of activities for professional training and scholarly exchanges.