On 1 November, the video conference on "Looking forward to our future: overall development plan of libraries and archives—Asia and Oceania national libraries leaders' conversation" was held, which was supported by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and organized by the National Library Board, Singapore (IFLA Regional Office for Asia and Oceania). The conference aimed to share and discuss the long-term development plans of national libraries in various countries in the new era. Barbara Lison, the IFLA President, Xiong Yuanming, the NLC Director, Chen Ying, the NLC Deputy Director, and directors of national libraries from Singapore, Australia, Finland, Indonesia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom attended the conference.

Xiong Yuanming made a keynote report named "Wisdom, Quality and Openness—the Future Development Vision of the National Library of China". He pointed out that the construction of smart city and smart society had become a global issue of common concern. The chain of knowledge production, dissemination and service had been comprehensively reshaped under the conditions of new technology. The social function, service form, business logic and management mode of the libraries were facing sustained and profound changes. Facing the new challenging environment, the NLC had put forward three core strategies of "wisdom transformation", "quality improvement" and "opening up and cooperation" in the new five-year plan. Relying on the IFLA and other international cooperation mechanisms, the NLC would establish closer and more friendly cooperative relations with libraries in various countries to jointly deal with future opportunities and challenges.