The World Affairs Press was established in 1934, with bridging China and the world as its purpose. The periodical of World Affairs and numerous other books have played special historical roles in helping readers to know the world and promoting China to move toward the world.

The World Affairs Press publishes four periodicals: World Affairs, World Affairs Pictorial, World Vision, and English Salon, and books and reference books that introduce other countries' politics, economy and culture. It has published more than 2,000 titles of books, which are concerned with international politics, diplomacy, economy, culture, military affairs and science and technology in forms of translated works, monographs, biographies, as well as literary works based on actual events.

In diplomacy, there are such authoritative works as the Diplomatic History of the People's Republic of China (1949-1956), China's Diplomacy (one volume each year), and the Postwar Diplomatic History of Great Powers.

It has also published the biographies of a lot of famous international figures of the modern times, including Nixon, Bush, Jacques Chirac, Saddam Hussein, and Gorbachev.