With this issue David Shambaugh formally resigns as Editor of The China Quarterly. As the new Editor, I hope I will be able to follow David's, as well as the previous Editors', good work in sustaining the journal's high standards in studies of contemporary China. The China Quarterly is fortunate in that all its Editors since its founding in 1960 have given their continuous support for its growth and welfare. It also benefits from a hard-working Editorial Board, Executive Committee and editorial staff, as well as the Quarterly Chronicle and Documentation, compiled by Robert Ash since 1982.