On November 13, a press conference on the list of the 6^th National Rare Ancient Book Directory and the 6^th Group of National Key Ancient Books Preservation and Conservation Institutions was held at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Rao Quan, Director of the National Library of China (NLC) and Director of China National Center for Preservation & Conservation of Ancient Books, Chen Binbin, First-level Inspector of Public Service Department, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Li Zhizhong, Director of National Ancient Books Preservation Experts Committee, Chen Chengjun, Executive Deputy Director of the National Museum of China, Quan Qin, Deputy Director of Nanjing Library and Director of Jiangsu Provincial Center for Preservation & Conservation of Ancient Books, attended the press conference, which was presided over by Zhang Xuxia, Deputy Director of the General Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Recently, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued The 6^th National Rare Ancient Book Directory and The 6^th Group of National Key Ancient Books Preservation and Conservation Institutions, and put forward requirements for further preservation and utilization of ancient books.

Rao Quan summarized a series of new achievements and discoveries of general survey and collection of ancient books in recent years: first, the collection of ancient books in recent years had achieved fruitful results; second, a number of precious ancient books had been discovered through general survey of ancient books; third, celebrities' transcripts and manuscripts constantly sprang up; fourth, a number of exquisitely color books had been selected from ancient maps; fifth, valuable ancient books in languages of ethnic minorities were rich and colorful. Rao Quan also said that among the 23 national key ancient books preservation and conservation Institutions, there were not only large culture and museum institutions with abundant collections and superior warehouse conditions, but also institutions with unique advantages in the collection and research of ancient books in languages of ethnic minorities. Compared with the fifth group of institutions, the number of recommended institutions was increased, especially institutions in the central and western regions. On one hand, the ancient books collection conditions in Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan and other provinces, especially some prefectures and cities, were continuously improving; on the other hand, after the general survey, more libraries in prefectures and cities, or even grass-roots libraries had reached the application standard. At the meantime, the enthusiasm of the cultural and museum system to participate in the selection had been further improved, and the number of recommended institutions had increased.

Chen Binbin read out the Circular on Announcing the 6^th National Rare Ancient Book Directory and the 6^th Group of National Key Ancient Books Preservation and Conservation Institutions of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. He said that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism would work together with China National Center for Preservation & Conservation of Ancient Books and all kinds of ancient books preservation institutions at all levels to further improve the relevant standards and management norms for the preservation of ancient books, and undertake the responsibility of properly preserving, effectively protecting and rationally utilizing ancient Chinese books to ensure the physical safety of precious ancient books. We should restore the damaged precious ancient books, combine the traditional restoration techniques with modern technology to improve the restoration level and ensure the restoration quality. We should promote relevant departments in various regions to publicize and make use of the selected precious ancient books, strengthen the interpretation of these precious ancient books, deeply explore the cultural connotation, and sort out the historical origin and development trend of Chinese culture. We would organize and carry out the publicity and promotion activities of excellent ancient books in China, use the modern digitization, networking and intelligent technical means, and adopt the combination of online and offline measures to strengthen the multi-media, multi-channel and multi-terminal dissemination of excellent ancient books and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese ancient books.

Li Zhizhong explained the evaluation work of The 6^th National Rare Ancient Book Directory and the 6^th group of national key ancient books preservation and conservation institutions in details. Chen Chengjun and Quan Qin respectively introduced the situation of strengthening precious ancient books preservation, the selection of precious ancient books and the related preservation work. In the conference, the principals of each institutions, and experts answered the questions of the journalists.

Since Chinese Ancient Books Preservation Plan was implemented in 2007, remarkable achievements on Chinese ancient books preservation had been made through unremitting efforts. Six groups of National Rare Ancient Book Directory had been announced successively, including 13,026 ancient books in total. Six groups of 233 national key ancient books preservation and conservation institutions had been nominated. Local precious ancient books directory and evaluation system of key ancient books preservation and conservation institutions had been gradually established, which greatly promoted ancient books classification and preservation at all levels.

In 2018, since the Ministry of Culture and Tourism launched the declaration of the 6^th National Rare Ancient Book Directory and the 6^th group of national key ancient books preservation and conservation institutions, China National Center for Preservation & Conservation of Ancient Books had received the declaration of 3,981 ancient books from all levels of ancient books preservation institutions in China, and 27 institutions had applied for 6^th group of national key ancient books preservation and conservation institutions. In the beginning of 2019, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism held a kick-off meeting on national ancient books evaluation, which made an arrangement for the evaluation of the 6^th National Rare Ancient Book Directory and the 6^th group of national key ancient books preservation and conservation institutions. This evaluation adhered to the principles of openness, fairness and impartiality. Through the process of summarizing, evaluation, on-site investigation and publicity on the website of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the recommended list was finally determined. After the approval of the State Council, the list was officially announced. A large number of important ancient books of different nationalities, different periods, different regions, different carrier forms and different binding forms and ancient books preservation institutions with better conditions in various systems had been selected, which fully reflected the broad, profound and diversified characteristics of Chinese culture.