Since the last decade of this century, a number of charmonium-like states, referred to as $XYZ$ states, have been observed in various experiments. They are considered as strong candidates for exotic hadrons, as their properties cannot be accounted for by charmonium states composed of a pair of $c\bar{c}$. The vector charmonium-like states have quantum numbers of $J^{PC}=1^{--}$. They can be produced directly from the electron-position annihilation process. Here, recent studies of vector charmonium-like states by investigating the cross-sections of exclusive processes at BESIII experiment will be presented, including the precise measurements of the cross-sections of $e^+e^-\to D\bar{D}$, $e^+e^-\to D_s^+ D_s^-$, $e^+e^-\to D_s^{\pm}D_{s1}(2536)^{\mp}$,$e^+e^-\to D_s^{\pm} D_{s2}^{*}(2573)^{\mp}$, $e^+e^-\to \eta h_c$, and $e^+e^-\to \omega \chi_{c1,2}$. Resonant structures are found in these processes with masses between $4.0$ and $4.7~\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$.