41 lost cultural relics, artifacts returned to China from U.S.

(ECNS) -- China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) received 41 pieces of cultural and artifacts returned by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in New York, the U.S., on Tuesday morning.

These items, spanning from the Neolithic period to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), include a bronze money tree, a pottery tripod, a lidded bronze vessel, and a pottery storyteller figurine, representing various categories like pottery, jade, bronze, and Buddhist artifacts.

Experts said these artifacts possess significant historical, artistic, and scientific value and are categorized as illegally exported Chinese cultural relics.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office seized this batch of cultural relics and artifacts during an investigation, the NCHA learned through Chinese Consulate General in New York in November 2024.

China and the U.S. signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2009 since when both countries have collaborated on preventing the illegal entry of Chinese cultural artifacts into the U.S.

The MoU has been renewed three times (2014, 2019, 2024), facilitating the repatriation of 594 cultural relics and artworks in 20 batches from the U.S. to China.