On April 12, 2024, the Sixth General Assembly of WAAMA & the Eighth Seminar for Academic Exchanges on Abacus and Mental Arithmetic were held in Beijing. Liu Jianhua, President of the Fifth Council of the WAAMA, Ou Wenhan, President of the Sixth Council of the WAAMA and President of the Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association, Kwon Hyuksik (South Korea), Hsiao, Chiu-Yung, (Taiwan, China), Sally Chou (the United States), Alexander Kartono Taslim (Indonesia), Secretary-General Cheng Beiping (China) and other leading guests attended the conference. 

(Ou Wenhan, President of the 6th Council of the WAAMA)

The General Assembly has reviewed and approved the work report and financial report of the 5th Council of the WAAMA, and membership fee standards; Reviewed and approved the membership applications of SHENMO RWANDA and Hong Kong Mental Math Academy, Hong Kong SAR, China; It is decided to hold the 8th abacus and mental arithmetic competition of the WAAMA in Jilin, China, in July 2024. 

(President Ou Wenhan issues membership certificate to the SHENMO RWANDA)

The General Assembly elected the council members, standing council members and leading bodies of the sixth Council of the WAAMA. Ou Wenhan, former assistant minister of the Ministry of Finance of China and president of the Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association, was elected as the president of the sixth Council of the WAAMA, Kudo Toshikazu (Japan), Kwon Hyuksik (South Korea), Hsiao, Chiu-Yung (Taiwan, China), Sally Chou (the United States), Alexander Kartono Taslim (Indonesia) as the vice presidents, Cheng Beiping (China) as the Secretary-General, and Zhao Xiangyi (China) and Yan Xiaoming (China) as the assistants of Secretary-General.

Ou Wenhan delivered a speech on behalf of the new council. He stated that since its establishment 22 years ago, the WAAMA has always adhered to the development concept of "promoting abacus culture, strengthening exchanges and cooperation, promoting global dissemination, and emphasizing education and enlightenment", achieving the internationalization of abacus and mental arithmetic. He proposed the Global Abacus Development Cooperation Initiative, stating that the WAAMA should continuously enhance its sense of responsibility and mission to protect abacus as intangible cultural heritage and inherit human culture, and deepen the exchange and mutual learning of world civilizations; Adhere to theoretical research as the foundation, take competition and appraisal as the starting point, and take publicity and display as the window to promote the popularization and development of abacus and mental arithmetic education; We need to strengthen international and regional exchanges and cooperation, seek development through cooperation, promote cooperation through development, and adhere to international standards to promote the work of the WAAMA, focusing on enhancing the organizational vitality, inheritance effectiveness, and academic influence of the WAAMA.

Liu Jianhua, on behalf of the 5th Council of the WAAMA, delivered a work report stating that with the joint efforts of all members, the 5th Council of the WAAMA has united, cooperated, actively advanced, continuously deepened research topics, strengthened international cooperation, and provided strong support for the development of teaching and research activities; Tightly grasp theoretical discussions, implement academic sharing, and make the academic exchange activities of the WAAMA become an international stage for showcasing, sharing, and seeking common development; Actively organizing competition and appraisals, adding development momentum, and laying a solid foundation for the promotion and popularization of abacus and mental arithmetic worldwide. Each member unit utilizes the WAAMA as an international exchange and cooperation platform to learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses through experience sharing, collaborate on activities, and learn from each other in business cooperation, pushing the world's abacus and mental arithmetic industry to a new stage of development. 

(On site Meeting)

The Eighth Seminar for Academic Exchanges on Abacus and Mental Arithmetic of WAAMA was held on the same day. Mr. Guo Shirong, vice president of the CAMAA and professor of Inner Mongolia Normal University, described the six characteristics of Chinese intangible cultural heritage of abacus, including scientificity, uniqueness, sociality, continuity, internationality and symbolism; Ms. Liao Huiwan, Executive Member of the Mathematical Committee of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic of Taiwan Chamber of Commerce, Taiwan, China, introduced the multi cognition course to promote the cognitive function and intellectual activities of elderly people; Mr. Kwon Hyuksik, Vice President of the WAAMA and Korea Institution of International Abacus and Mathematics Association, South Korea, made suggestions on the development direction of abacus and mental arithmetic in the future; Mr. Kohara Mitsuharu from the League for Soroban Education of Japan. Inc., submitted a written discussion material introducing the implementation of abacus education through video teaching in Japanese public education.

More than 80 representatives from member units of the WAAMA, invited experts, and media reporters attended the meeting.