On June 4, 2018, the class-D projects of 2018 for Phase II of the “National Program for Promotion of International Influence of Technical Journals” jointly launched by China Association for Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education, the National News Publication Bureau, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Chinese Academy of Engineering, are announced. The Journals of Magnesium and Alloys run by Chongqing University is in the list. The competition has been intense. Through qualification, expert review and result announcement, 20 English journals eventually made it to the list out of 87 statement and defense projects. In particular, there are only 10 journals run by colleges and universities.

The Journal of Magnesium and Alloys was founded in 2013 by the National Engineering Research Center for Magnesium Alloys of Chongqing University, in collaboration with the Magnesium Alloy Branch of China Materials Research Society. It is the first academic journal specialized in magnesium and magnesium alloys in the world published by Elsevier. Academician Pan Fusheng and Professor Peng Xiaodong of Chongqing University respectively serve as the editor in chief and the managing associate editor, and the editorial board members are all well-known experts in magnesium alloy from more than 10 countries in the world like the USA , the Australia , Canada , Japan and Russia . In particular, there are a number of internationally reputable scientists such as chairman of International Magnesium Association, president of Korean Institute of Metals and Materials, NAE fellow and editors in chief of Acta Mater and Mater Sci Eng. Since founding of the journal, it has been substantially supported by Chongqing  University, and its academic quality and influence have been improved greatly. By now, it has been included in globally important databases such as ESCI and Scopus and become one of the indexed journals of the core database, Web of Science.

In the process of declaration of the project, the Periodical Press of Chongqing University and the Editorial Office of the Journal of Magnesium and Alloys collaborated and made deliberate preparation and succeeded at the first attempt. The inclusion of the journal in the Program further encourages and recognizes the journal and the Editorial Office would take this opportunity to strengthen the international, brand-oriented and digital development of the Journal using the power of specialty disciplines. With its international influence enhanced, it will be built into an international branded journal and make contributions to the “Double-First-Rate” construction.