US returns 38 pieces of cultural relics to China, signaling enhanced cultural exchanges

Chinese officials received 38 pieces of cultural relics returned by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on Wednesday.

The handover ceremony, held at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, was attended by Li Qun, deputy minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, along with Chinese Consul General in New York Huang Ping, and Matthew Bogdanos, chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

In his remarks at the ceremony, Li, who is also director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, said that the renewed cooperation between China and the United States in cultural relic returns signifies mutual trust and progress in artifact repatriation efforts.

China will continue to actively fulfill the memorandum of understanding with the United States on preventing the illegal entry of Chinese cultural relics into the United States, and work with the United States to establish a sound mechanism for information sharing on stolen relics, contributing the wisdom and strength of both countries to safeguarding cultural heritage and promoting mutual understanding through cultural exchanges, Li said.

Huang noted that the event is a positive implementation of the San Francisco Vision reached by the leaders of both countries in November last year and will greatly enhance cultural exchanges and friendship between China and the United States.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of China-US diplomatic relations, and it is hoped that people from all walks of life in China and the United States will continue to work together to promote stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-US relations, said Huang.

Bogdanos emphasized the significance of the return of these cultural relics in fostering cultural exchanges.

"For cultural heritage, what it does is it brings us all together...We have far more in common when we roll up our sleeves and get to work returning these antiquities where they belong because that's our only goal," said Bogdanos.

Most of the 38 pieces of cultural relics returned Wednesday are Tibetan Buddhist artifacts from China, dating from the Yuan to Ming and Qing dynasties, with a rich variety and exquisite craftsmanship. Among them, ivory carvings, wooden sculptures, and fragments of murals are particularly rare and hold significant historical, artistic, and scientific value.

These artifacts were seized by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in March. After receiving the artifacts in New York, the National Cultural Heritage Administration will arrange for their timely return to China.

China and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding that aims to prevent the illegal importation of Chinese cultural artifacts into the United States in January 2009. Its validity has been extended for the third time, starting from Jan. 14 this year.

Wednesday's handover marks the first successful artifact repatriation cooperation between the two countries since the agreement's renewal.

So far 504 pieces or sets of Chinese cultural relics have been delivered in 15 batches from the United States to China.