The 72nd World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) opened in Seoul, capital of the Republic of Korea, on August 20 this year. Through tough negotiations by representatives of the China National Library and the China Society for Library Science, the International Federation of Library Association (IFLA) accepted Chinese as another option for a working language starting from the 2006 annual event. 

During the congress, a service of Chinese simultaneous interpretation and documents in Chinese version were available to delegates, in addition to the previous five of English, French, Russian, Spanish and German. The adding of the Chinese language shows the international library community recognizes Chinese as important in future communication.

 As China's economy soars and its international status improves, the Chinese language has been playing an increasingly important role in world academic exchanges and economic relations and trade.

(China.org.cn)