In the circumstance of “the Belt and Road” initiative，the development of higher education cooperation is a favorable opportunity for the further development of relations between China and countries along the Maritime Silk Road. This paper chooses 34 countries in the four sectors along the Maritime Silk Road as the research object，and analyzes the status and characteristics of the higher education cooperation between China and Southeast Asia，South Asia，Africa and West Asia from the perspective of regional cooperation. The study finds that the level of cooperation in higher education between China and countries in different sectors is different. The higher education cooperation between China and Southeast Asian countries an in-depth linkage and a wide coverage，followed by the South Asian countries；countries in the African sector have an insufficient cooperation depth but a rapid development pace；countries in the Western Asian sector have the weakest cooperation. Based on the results，this paper further proposes countermeasures that the first is to grasp the opportunity of cooperation and choose different cooperation methods，the second is to continuously expand the scope of cooperation and promote the in-depth development of cooperation，and the third is to give full play to the advantages of Confucius Institutes and vigorously develop overseas education.