Presentated by Mr. Guo Shuyin,
Deputy Director General of the State Archives Administration of China

Respected Mr. Kanji Takaoka, Chairman of EASTICA & Director General of the National Archives of Japan,
Respected Mr. Huang Binfu, Secretary General of Suzhou City Party Committee,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,

It is for me both an honor and a pleasure to be here to represent Mr. Wang Gang, President of ICA and Director General of the State Archives Administration of China, who regrets very much indeed for his not being able to be with us today.

Allow me, first of all, on behalf of the State Archives Administration and myself, to extend a warm welcome and cordial greetings to all our distinguished guests coming from afar.

I would like also to express thanks to all participants who give us the honor by presenting themselves at the seminar which was jointly orgainzed by EASTICA, the State Archives Administration of China and the Suzhou City Archives Bureau.

I would like also to express sincere thanks to Prof. Luciana Duranti, from the British Columbia University of Canada and Mr. Zhang Zhaoyu, Associate Professor of Suzhou University who will give us academic reports on archives training and education.

We all know that archives play an important role in today's inforamtion age, while archival training and education are the gurantee which enable archivists to be strong enough prefessionally to meet the challemges brought by the new technologies. In 1979, ICA established SAE, Section for Archival Education and Training. EASTICA has offered various kinds of training courses during the past years. In 1988 the State Archives Administration of China established Archives Training program. All these efforts will definitely improve the professionalism of archivists and will be beneficial to the progress of archival work.

In February 1997, EASTICA's workshop on Archives Descriptive Staqndrads was held in Hong Kong. Last October, the Third General Conference of EASTICA was covened in Tokyo and the conference decided to hold the seminar on archives training and education in Suzhou. This means that archivists in this region have come to realize that it is only through continuous prefessional education and training that can we improve ourselves and to be capable of meeting the challenges of the new century.

For the past 20 years since China opened its door to outside world, investment from the Government to archives training and education increases year by year. In accordance wth China's national situations, the State Archives Administration has formulated a series of strategic policies and measures on archives training and education which have been proved to be effective. The aim of doing this is to ensure that China's 5000-year recorded history can be well preseeved and be made accessible to the public.

I believe this seminar will further enhance understanding and friendship among the archivists of this region and will strengthen future exchange and cooperation with regard to archives training and education.

Lastly, I wish every success of the seminar and everyone of you a happy stay in Suzhou.

Thank you.