UK returns 12 lost cultural relics, artworks to China

(ECNS) -- China received 12 lost cultural relics and artworks returned by the United Kingdom during a handover ceremony held at the Chinese Embassy in London on Tuesday, according to China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration.

The artifacts had been seized by London’s Metropolitan Police Service during law enforcement operations.

Rao Quan, vice minister of culture and tourism and head of the NCHA, delivered a speech via video link. Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang, alongside representatives from the Metropolitan Police Service, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, attended the ceremony.

China and the UK are both states parties to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.

Under the framework of the convention, the NCHA worked closely with British authorities through the Chinese Embassy to facilitate the successful repatriation of the artifacts. 

(By Helen Mo & intern Lin Qiaochu)