Former Editor's Farewell Note

After 18 years at the helm, I have stepped down as the Editor of China: An International Journal (CIJ) following the publication of the August 2020 issue, on which I signed off as my last. Professor Bert Hofman—my successor at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore—has taken on the reins as the Editor-in-chief of the journal with effect from 1 September.

Handing over the editorial reins is never easy as the memory of setting up the journal in 2002 with Professor Wang Gungwu, who was then the Director of EAI, for its inaugural launch in 2003 still remains vivid. It is a daunting endeavour. But I have had the privilege of having Professor Wang as my mentor from 2003 to 2008, and sharing the limelight with him as a co-editor in steering the direction and strategy of the journal. From 2009 to 2010, Professor Yang Dali came on board as co-editor of the journal. Since 2011, I was the sole Editor of CIJ.

There are several defining moments in my 18 years at the helm of the journal. The journal achieved its key milestone in December 2010 upon its inclusion in the renowned authoritative interdisciplinary citation indexes of Thomson Reuters (now known as Clarivate Analytics)—Social Sciences Citation Index^®; Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition; and Current Contents^®/Social and Behavioral Sciences. In 2012, we increased the journal frequency from biannually to three issues a year. In 2016, CIJ became a quarterly in view of the growing volume of quality manuscripts submitted to the CIJ editorial team.

All of this would not have materialised without the hard work of the editorial team, the associate editors and the board members.

As CIJ matures, the focus is on attracting quality manuscripts regionally and globally by both doctoral students and established scholars. In less quantifiable ways, CIJ has also grown in visibility and reputation in the academic community. Under the leadership of the new Editor-in-chief Professor Bert Hofman, CIJ will continue its mission to present diverse frames of reference and perceptions of China in the fields of politics, economics, society, geography, law, culture and international relations.