A six-member delegation led by former French President Francois Hollande visited Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei at 10:30am on May 27, 2018.

They were accompanied by Liang Jianquan, vice president of Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, and Zhang Hua, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government.

Chen Chao, director of Shanghai Library, and Yu Jiang, director of Shanghai Library’s Party committee and administrative office, welcomed the delegation in front of the main hall of the bibliotheca.

Xu Jinhua, director of Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei, introduced its history to the visiting guests. The first floor features an exhibition displaying the Chinese version of Christian literature, while on the second floor stand two sculptures made by the Society of Jesus in the 19^th century. Hollande also read some special documents in the book vault on the second floor, including Description de l'empire de la Chine written by Jean-Baptiste Du Halde and first published in Paris in 1736, Bibliotheca sinica. Dictionnaire bibliographique des ouvrages relatifs à l'Empire chinois written by Cordier Henri, and Echo de Chine.

After the tour, Chen donated to Hollande a photo album of Shanghai Library’s east branch, while Hollande donated books written by himself to Shanghai Library.