Foshan Archives

Foshan Archives

The Foshan Archives is located in Building 4 of the municipal government complex at No. 12 Lingnan Avenue North, Chancheng District.

Scale and main facilities: The Foshan Archives is a full-time public institution at the division level, endowed with archival administration functions by the municipal government, and is the only prefecture-level national comprehensive archives in the city. The Foshan Archives building has eight floors, with a construction area of 3,997 square meters, including 1,620 square meters for archive storage. The storage rooms are protected against theft, fire, lightning, and earthquakes. They are equipped with metal archive cabinets and compact shelving, as well as disinfection equipment and an automatic fire suppression system, along with an air conditioning system. The facility includes an archive exhibition room, reading room, image processing room, archive organizing room, mounting room, and archive disinfection room. The service and technical area covers approximately 500 square meters and is outfitted with essential equipment such as photocopiers, cameras, disc burners, and scanners. These resources provide solid material support for the Archives to function as a base for patriotic education and to develop its social roles.

Management structure: The Foshan Archives operates jointly with the Municipal Archives Bureau under an integrated bureau-and-archives system. The director of the Archives Bureau (and Archives) oversees overall operations. A staff of 18 manages the archives’ work. The Foshan Archives has established management systems that ensure more standardized and institutionalized operations.

Historical evolution and value: The Foshan Archives was formed in June 1983 through the merger of the Foshan Regional Archives and the former Foshan City Archives, both of which were established in 1958. It serves as a hub for scientific research and the utilization of archival historical materials across various fields. The Foshan Archives receives, collects, and preserves archives from municipal and district-level Party and government organs, as well as municipal-level directly affiliated units at or above the deputy division level that require permanent or long-term retention. It also keeps archives from dissolved municipal-level units, revolutionary historical archives of city-wide significance, archives from previous regimes, related historical materials, and provides access services to the public. By the end of 2012, the Foshan Archives housed 692 fonds, comprising 171,000 volumes and 213,000 files, 7,000 photographic records, as well as audio, video, disc, honorific physical, and calligraphy and painting archives. It also holds 10,000 volumes of reference materials. The oldest records date back to 1914, covering politics, economy, science and technology, education, culture, and other domains in Foshan. These archives are rich in political, ideological, historical, and cultural content, providing excellent primary material for patriotic education.

Funding and reception capacity: The Foshan Archives is fully funded by the government budget. All exhibitions and services for visitors are free of charge. The Archives features an exhibition room, a special collections room, and a (current documents) reading room, covering about 400 square meters. It can accommodate over 100 visitors daily on weekdays and offers services such as consulting, copying, and reviewing archival and reference materials for all sectors of society. Starting October 2010, the second Monday of each month was designated as an open day, when the Archives opens to the public. Bureau leaders and department heads from the Archives Management Division, Supervision and Guidance Division, and Technology Division receive visitors, answer consultations, address archival and technical questions, and guide visitors through areas such as the archive storage rooms, service desk, reading room, special collections room, image processing room, digitization studio, and mounting room. This initiative increases the transparency of the Archives’ work and allows for better public oversight.

Visiting address: Building 4 of the municipal government complex at No. 12 Lingnan Avenue North, Chancheng District

Opening hours: 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM