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US returns cultural relics to China as part of antiquity repatriation deal
- A total of 38 Chinese artefacts dating from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties have been returned by the US in a handover ceremony
- The repatriation is part of a 2009 MOU between China and America relating to the illegal importation of Chinese cultural property
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The United States has returned 38 cultural relics to China as part of a repatriation deal to help Beijing retrieve artefacts that have been lost throughout the centuries.
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On Wednesday, officials received the relics, which mostly dated from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, at a handover ceremony held at the Chinese consulate general in New York.
“The latest repatriation cooperation between China and the US signifies that the two countries are moving in the same direction and have built mutual trust in the actions to retrieve lost cultural treasures,” Li Qun, director general of the Chinese National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA), said during the ceremony.
With this year marking the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US, Huang Ping, China’s consul general in New York, said this repatriation would “greatly promote cultural exchange between [the two countries] as well as friendship between the people”.
In January 2009, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) outlining that the US would impose restrictions against the illegal importation of Chinese cultural property.
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Since then, 504 lost artefacts have been successfully returned to China in 15 batches, the heritage administration said on Thursday.
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