At 4 p.m. on December 21, 2020, the fourth board meeting of King Abdulaziz Public Library Branch in Peking University (“Library Branch”) was convened in the conference room of the Library Branch, taking the form of online video conference. Attendants of the meeting included: Faisal Muaammar, Chief Director of King Abdulaziz Public Library; Turki Almadi, Saudi Ambassador to China; Abdulkareem Zaid, Deputy Chief Director of King Abdulaziz Public Library; Anwar Hegazi, President of Aramco Asia; Mohammed Ajlan, Vice President of Saudi-Chinese Business Council; Chen Baojian, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice President of Peking University; Xia Hongwei, Dean of the Office of International Relations; Wang Zhouyi, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences; and Fu Zhiming, Vice Dean of the School of Foreign Languages. The meeting was presided over by Zheng Qingwen, Secretary of the Party Committee of Peking University Library and Director of King Abdulaziz Public Library Branch in Peking University.

At the meeting

Attending leaders and guests speaking online

The current rotating president Faisal mentioned in his speech that in the special year of 2020, everyone is carrying on with loads. From the work report, it can be seen that great achievements have been made by the Library Branch, and gratitude should be expressed to all the staff members for their efforts, and to all other parties for their support and assistance in the construction and development of the Library Branch. He said that the establishment of the Library Branch has built a bridge for the friendship between China and Saudi Arabia, and has promoted the integration and mutual learning of Chinese and Arabian cultures. 

Faisal delivering the speech

The meeting pointed out that in the past three years, the Library Branch has made steady progress in infrastructure construction, business service development, and cultural activity organization, and its influence has increased year by year. It is hoped that Peking University and the Main Library will strengthen cooperation, jointly improve the construction of the Library Branch, and promote the sharing of information resources and academic and cultural exchanges. They should together make the Library Branch a center for promoting the friendship between the youths of China and Saudi Arabia and a platform for China to carry out Arabian cultural research, where Chinese and Arabian cultures and civilizations can meet and learn from each other.

The board highly affirmed the work summary of the Library Branch in 2020, reviewed and approved the Library Branch’s work plan (including the cultural activity plan) and annual budget for 2021, as well as the appointment of Zhang Meiping, the Chinese Deputy Director of the Library Branch. A lively discussion was held on the progress of the China-Saudi Arabia cultural exchange projects, and the ways to carry out China-Saudi Arabia cultural activities under normalized pandemic prevention and control. Constructive opinions and suggestions were put forward, which clarified the future direction of development for the Library Branch.

Source: https://news.pku.edu.cn/xwzh/f2bd0eb0ad844ae28e79edd69d0e8007.htm