The groundbreaking for a Chinese branch of the King Abdulaziz Public Library, held at Peking University last November, is being heralded as an example of growing cultural ties between China and Saudi Arabia.

The branch library is expected to further promote communications and cooperation in culture and education between the two countries, said Li Yansong, vice-president of the university, at the ceremony.

Abdulkareem Al-Zaid, deputy director of the public library, said he hoped the branch library could serve both the Chinese and Saudi people by providing more chances for the exchange of ideas.

The PKU branch library is the first of its kind that the King Abdulaziz Public Library has established in a non-Arab country.

Representatives of the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding for the project in 2009 during then-Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit in Saudi Arabia. An agreement on the branch library's construction, operation and management was signed in 2012.

On March 16, 2015, a delegation from the public library visited Peking University in Beijing to confirm details about the library's construction. During the meeting, Lin Jianhua, president of the university, said although many obstacles existed, he was optimistic about the future of the project and believed it would be of great benefit in the long term.

Construction is expected to be complete by the end of September. When finished, lectures and academic seminars will be held by the two sides in the branch library.

The King Abdulaziz Public Library, located in Riyadh, was founded in 1999 and cost $40 million to construct.

It has separate sections for men, women and children and strives to disseminate knowledge and culture in Saudi society, concentrating on the Arabic and Islamic heritage and the history of Saudi Arabia and its founder King Abdulaziz.

It has 564,000 different types of paper materials such as books, journals and catalogs. Special collections include more than 7,000 rare Arab and Islamic coins.

The public library has shared its collections with many organizations worldwide, including the British Museum and the British Library, and has also donated valuable collections to other libraries.

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