Abstract: Increasing attention is being paid to solve constrained optimization problems (COP) frequently encountered in real-world applications. In this paper, an improved vector particle swarm optimization (IVPSO) algorithm is proposed to solve COPs. The constraint-handling technique is based on the simple constraint-preserving method. Velocity and position of each particle, as well as the corresponding changes, are all expressed as vectors in order to present the optimization procedure in a more intuitively comprehensible manner. The NVPSO algorithm , which uses one-dimensional search approaches to find a new feasible position on the flying trajectory of the particle when it escapes from the feasible region, has been proposed to solve COP. Experimental results showed that searching only on the flying trajectory for a feasible position influenced the diversity of the swarm and thus reduced the global search capability of the NVPSO algorithm. In order to avoid neglecting any worthy position in the feasible region and improve the optimization efficiency, a multi-dimensional search algorithm is proposed to search within a local region for a new feasible position. The local region is composed of all dimensions of the escaped particle’s parent and the current positions. Obviously, the flying trajectory of the particle is also included in this local region. The new position is not only present in the feasible region but also has a better fitness value in this local region. The performance of IVPSO is tested on 13 well-known benchmark functions. Experimental results prove that the proposed IVPSO algorithm is simple, competitive and stable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]