On the morning of March 28, 2023, the 7th Meeting of the Fifth Standing Council of the World Association of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic (hereinafter referred to as the WAAMA) was held via video. Eight executive directors and representatives from seven countries and regions, including Canada, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, the United States, China, and Taiwan, China, attended the meeting. Liu Jianhua, President of the WAAMA, attended the meeting and delivered a speech, while Cheng Beiping, Secretary-General of the WAAMA, presided over the meeting. Assistant of Secretary-General Zhao Xiangyi, Wang Yanling, and representatives from member units such as China and Japan attended the meeting as a nonvoting delegate.

 (Standing Council Members and Representatives)

President Liu Jianhua pointed out in her speech that 2023 is both the year of the succession of the WAAMA and the tenth anniversary of Chinese Zhusuan’s successful inscription onto the World Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO. The timely convening of this executive council meeting is of great significance for discussing and considering important activities including the 6th General Assembly of the WAAMA and the 8th Competition of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic of WAAMA, in order to smoothly start the work of the WAAMA throughout the year.

 (Liu Jianhua, President of WAAMA)

Liu Jianhua stated that in order to effectively promote the long-term development of the world's abacus mental arithmetic cause, in combination with the annual work task of the WAAMA, firstly, we should constantly tap the scientific and cultural connotation of abacus, and make good use of intangible cultural heritage resources under the guidance of the Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO; Secondly, it is necessary to conduct in-depth research on the enlightening function of abacus and mental arithmetic education, fully demonstrate and widely promote the important role of abacus and mental arithmetic education in promoting the development of children's intellectual factors; The third is to focus on communication and cooperation, actively leverage the role of the WAAMA, promote "experience sharing, information sharing, and activity co-construction" among member units, and jointly write the new chapter of the global cause of abacus and mental arithmetic.

According to the agenda of the meeting, Cheng Beiping presented a report on the work of the WAAMA for 2022, which reviewing the work of the WAAMA in organizational construction, service and promotion, theoretical research, academic exchange, competition, appraisal, and teacher training, and providing suggestions for the key work to be carried out in 2023. Zhao Xiangyi gave an explanation on the "Work Programme of the 6th General Assembly of WAAMA " and the " Work Programme of the 2023 WAAMA Seminar on Abacus and Mental Arithmetic among International Master Teachers ". Wang Yanling gave an explanation on the application of the IKEN Child Development Training Center LLC Dubai, United Arab Emirates to join the WAAMA and become a council member. Ni xiaojing gave an explanation on the Arrangement for the 8th Competition of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic of WAAMA.

The meeting approved the proposal of the IKEN Child Development Training Center LLC Dubai, United Arab Emirates to join the WAAMA and become a council member through a show of hands vote. The attending executive council representatives had a thorough discussion on the preparation of the 6th General Assembly of the WAAMA and the 8th Competition of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic. Based on the draft of General Assembly programme, competition programme, and competition arrangement, they put forward opinions and suggestions from the aspects of schedule arrangement, registration deadline, competition time, competition method, as well as ensuring fair competition and improving competition effectiveness.

Lisa Wang, the Head Master of ISTAR Education of Canada, suggested that the Secretariat of the WAAMA provide different levels of hotel information for overseas participants to choose from, and hopes that the registration deadline for the competition can be extended to the end of May; Lin Yuanxiang, deputy secretary-general of Taiwan Chamber of Commerce, Taiwan, China, said that the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce, Taiwan, China was happy to see the success of various work plans and would enthusiastically participate in activities such as the WAAMA Conferences and competitions; Kwon Hyuksik, Vice President of Korea Institution of International Abacus and Mathematics Association, South Korea, stated that Korean teachers are very positive about participating in the WAAMA competition. They hope that the registration time for the competition can be appropriately extended and that member units will be notified promptly after the relevant schedule is determined; Alexsander K. Taslim, Vice President of the WAAMA and President of SEMPOA SIP Indonesia, stated that the SEMPOA SIP Indonesia will actively participate in the competition in an offline or online manner according to the schedule of the WAAMA competition. Kudo Toshikazu, Vice President of the WAAMA and President of the League for Soroban Education of Japan. Inc., Japan, stated that they can participate in competitions organized in a combination of online and offline ways. At the same time, due to the change in answering methods from paper to "network+terminal", he hopes that the Secretariat of the WAAMA will work to ensure fairness and justice under the new competition method. Sally Chou, Vice President of the WAAMA and President of the Chinese American Abacus Association, The United States, stated that the WAAMA Secretariat conducts a unified combination of online and offline competitions in the form of "network+terminal", which effectively ensures the fairness of the competition. She hopes to better leverage the advantages of offline competitions, extend the registration time appropriately, and enrich the activities of the General Assembly.

 (Beijing Venue)

Presiding over the meeting, Cheng Beiping stated that the executive council meeting had in-depth discussions on several key tasks such as the 6th General Assembly and 8th Competition of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic to be held by the WAAMA this year. At the same time, the vote was passed on the application of the IKEN Child Development Training Center LLC Dubai, United Arab Emirates to join the WAAMA and become a member unit of the council. The WAAMA family welcomed the 55th new member together. In the next step, the Secretariat of the WAAMA will fully study and absorb the opinions and suggestions put forward by the executive directors, communicate with member units, further improve the programme of General Assembly and competition, successfully organize the activities of this year, and work with all members to continuously open up a new chapter in the protection, inheritance, and development of abacus as human’s intangible cultural heritage.