On May 31, 2012 the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has officially listed the National Library of China (NLC) into their depository libraries. Since then, NLC has formally become the only UNWTO depository library in China.

　　As one of the UN specialized agencies, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has a long history. Its predecessor can be traced back to the International Alliance of Tourism Association set up in 1898. UNWTO, which became the subsidiary at the UN in 1947, then one of the United Nations specialized agencies in 2003, plays an important role in promoting world development and prosperity of tourism. China became its member state in 1983 and elected as the executive committee successively.

　　UNWTO publications, rich in content, involve tourism data, research report and tourism policy of various countries in the world. UNWTO officially became the United Nations specialized agencies not long ago and its depository library program was carried out just in recent year, so there are no systematic collections in NLC. As an important member state of UNWTO, China has none library designated to be UNWTO depository library to preserve and provide all kinds of literature resources. It is undoubtedly a huge loss for the information users and not conducive to research and development in the field of tourism in China. Therefore, IOFG publications section of the Foreign Language Publications Acquisitions & Cataloguing Department has collected related material, looked for contact information and tried all kinds of communication channels. Finally the positive response came in May 2012. On May 31st, NLC formally submitted application to the UNWTO to join its depository library program, and got their approval on the same day.

　　The National Library of China will continue to fulfill the duty of national library and to provide perfect service to Chinese readers. In the future, the Foreign Language Publications Acquisitions & Cataloguing Department will complete all related work of ICAO deposit literatures. The National library of China continues to be the center in China disseminating information and knowledge about UNWTO. That helps to build a bridge of exchanging information between UNWTO and Chinese readers.