On September 3, 2020, Tan Xiuying, President of China Journal of International Relations And editor-in-chief of International Security Studies, and Xie Lei, editor of International Security Studies, were invited to visit The China-African Institute(CAI) and held a symposium with the editorial department of West Asia and Africa and the Editorial Department of Journal of China-African Studies. An Chunying, editorial director of West Asia and Africa, presided over the symposium.

Tan Xiuying has been engaged in journal management and editing for decades, and has a high reputation in the industry.Based on her many years of experience in running a magazine, she answered questions about planning topics, soliciting contributions, reviewing and editing manuscripts, and anonymous reviews.She emphasized: first, to ensure the quality of the publication, characteristics to be obvious, positioning to be clear, this is to do a good job of the publication. Second, we should pay attention to the cultivation of young and middle-aged scholars, form a benign interaction relationship with authors, and gradually form a stable and high-level team of authors.

Third, it is necessary to actively interact with the academic community, increase publicity efforts, and gradually expand the influence of the publication at home and abroad. She also emphasized that editors should be hardworking, dedicated, down-to-earth, and do their homework. At the same time, editors should be human-minded, warm-hearted and affectionate.

This symposium is a new "lecture for chief editors", mainly in the form of questions and answers. The participants had full exchanges and interactions, which achieved the expected results and played a positive role in promoting the further implementation of the West Asia Africa and the Journal of China-Africa Studies.