Qiaopi, which means letters, reports and account books resulting from communication between Chinese emigrants overseas and their families in China, are among 54 new additions to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Memory of the World Register.

More than 160,000 pieces of Qiaopi have been found and preserved in Fujian and Guangdong provinces, recording the contemporary livelihood and activities of overseas Chinese in Asia, North America and the Oceania, as well as the historical and cultural development of their residing countries in the 19th and 20th century.

Selected by the UNESCO from 82 petitions submitted by 40 countries and the International Commission for the International Tracing Service, Qiaopi were officially included in the prestigious list recognizing documentary heritage on June 19.

The Memory of the World Programme, established in 1992, aims to counter the parlous state of preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage in various parts of the world, according to UNESCO.

The Memory of the World Register now includes 299 documents and collections from the five continents.