Five Libraries, located in China and France, have been designated United Nations depository libraries, the UN Department of Public Information said on Wednesday.

They are the Law Department of Peking University (Beijing, China), the Law School of Wuhan University (Wuhan, China), the International Law Department of the East China University of Politics and Law (Shanghai, China), the law Department of Zhongshan (Guangzhou, China), and the Nantes University Library ( Nantes, France).

They become part of an international network of 378 libraries in 142 countries and territories that bring the UN documents and publications to users around the world.

Since 1946, the Dag Hammarskjold Library at United Nations Headquarters in New York, which is part of the Department of Public Information, has arranged for the distribution of United Nations documents and publications to users around the world through its depository library system.

At present, there are 378 United Nations depository libraries: 55 are located in Africa, 104 in Asia and the Pacific, 32 in Eastern Europe, 84 in Western Europe, 49 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 54 in North America.

These libraries receive United Nations materials, with the understanding that their collections will be maintained in good working order and be available to the public free of charge.

The designation of depositories is carried out by the United Nations Publication Board. The degree of development of the requesting libraries and the overall geographic distribution of depository libraries in the countries concerned are among the criteria used.