About IWAAS

　　The Institute Of West Asian and African Studies(IWAAS) was established on July 4, 1961，under the instruction of the late Chairman Mao Zedong．It was then named the Institute of Asian and African Studies，attached to the Division of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences．The founding director was Mr. Zhang Tiesheng，a distinguished scholar of international studies．In 1964，the Institute of Asian and African Studies was divided into two，IWAAS and the Institute of South Asian Studies．Mr. Wu Xueqian and Mr. Zhang Tiesheng co-chaired IWAAS．The work of IWAAS was stopped during the"Cultural Revolution". IWAAS did not resume its research activities until 1978 when Mr. Liao Gailong，a well-known scholar of political science in China became the director-general of the Institute．In 1981，IWAAS was incorporated into CASS．Madame Ge Ji was director-general of IWAAS from l985 to 1992 and was succeeded by Mr. Zhao Guozhong(1993-1998)  and Mr. Yang Guang(1998-2018)．The current director-general is Mr. Li Xinfeng.