IASZNU was founded in September 2007 under the auspices of Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Among China’s universities, it is the first comprehensive institute established specially for African studies. After more than 10 years of development, IASZNU has become a highly influential African studies institution and think tank on African affairs in China which has a “Chang Jiang Scholar” of African studies. IASZNU has been selected by the MFA for the “China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Plan” and “China-Africa Think Tanks 10+10 Partnership Plan”, and selected by the MOE for the “China-Africa Universities 20+20 Cooperation Plan”, as the Key Base for Regional and Country-Specific Studies, and the Research Center for China-South Africa People-to-people Exchanges. IASZNU is also selected by Zhejiang Province as the Provincial 2011 Collaborative Innovation Center, the Key Research Base of Philosophy and Social Sciences in Zhejiang Province. At present, IASZNU has one interdisciplinary doctoral program in African Education and Social Development, one interdisciplinary master program in African Studies, one Level I master program in Politics and two Level II master programs in African Education and African History. IASZNU has four research centers: Center for African Politics and International Relations, Center for African Economic Studies, Center for African Educational Studies, Center for African Historical and Cultural Studies, and Administration Office and Office of Research Administration and International Cooperation. Among China’s higher-learning institutions, IASZNU is the first institute that founded the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum (CATTF), the first African Museum, Translation Center for African Studies, African Literature Library and Professional Database for African Studies. The institute also has editorial offices of Series of African Studies, Annual African Region Development Report and African Studies, plus Academic Board and Committee of The Institute Affairs. IASZNU has established cooperative relations with more than 10 universities in Africa, and has set up Confucius Institutes in Cameroon, Mozambique and Tanzania.

African Studies is a signature discipline of ZJNU which is a key university in Zhejiang Province. ZJNU Party Secretary Prof. CHEN Dexi and President of ZJNU Prof. JIANG Guojun serve as the Directors of Discipline Construction Committee. Prof. LIU Hongwu, who is a Chang Jiang Scholar appointed by MOE, chair professor of Zhejiang Province and winner of the “China-Africa Friendship Awards--The Ten Chinese Who Moved African People” , acts as Director of IASZNU. IASZNU has more than 20 staff members, of whom 4 are professors, 15 are associate professors. All the researchers have made academic visits or done field researches in African countries. So far, they have undertaken 17 research projects sponsored by the National Social Science Foundation and over 80 research projects commissioned by MOE, MFA and various international cooperative organizations, including one key research project commissioned by state social sciences fund and one key research project commissioned by MOE humanity and social science research fund, which have been completed under the direction of Prof. LIU Hongwu.

Moving in lockstep with the state’s overall development and the general trend of China-Africa cooperation, IASZNU has been carrying out basic theory and practical strategy researches in all-out way with focus on the dual aspects of contemporary African development and Sino-African cooperation in the new era. Up till now, the institute has published 72 monographs, translated books, working papers and over 300 articles in domestic and international journals. Moreover, IASZNU has hosted a series of important academic conferences, including China-Africa Think Tanks Forum and China-Africa Media &Think Tanks Symposium which have produced great influence. More than 40 reports and policy recommendations submitted by IASZNU have been accepted by the state’s ministries and commissions, and many of them have been praised by the state’s leaders, or been carried in the MOE journal of Higher Education Think Tanks Research. The Annual African Region Development Report and African Studies compiled by IASZNU have become two influential journals on African researches in China.