Over 13,000 species of tropical plants are preserved in its 35 living collections, including over 301 families and 2110 genera.

Aside from the headquarters in Xishuangbanna, an important division has been set up in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province.

There are currently 101 senior researchers, 240 postgraduate students (98 of them are doctoral candidates, 142 Masters) and 28 postdoctoral scientists or visiting scientists.[when?]

XTBG is unusual for a CAS institute in having around 10% of research staff and students from overseas, XTBG's vision is to be a "Noah's arc for tropical plant conservation", through its ex-situ collections, and to be a leading establishment for tropical biology and conservation research.

Since its establishment, XTBG has accomplished over 698 scientific research projects; 13 important achievements were awarded ministerial or provincial prizes.