Cultural relics returned from U.S. handed over to Nanjing Museum

On Nov. 14, China's National Cultural Heritage Administration handed over 361 Chinese cultural relics to Nanjing Museum in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province in east China, at a special ceremony held at the museum, CCTV News reported on Nov. 16.

The cultural relics were returned by the U.S. government in February 2019, and included jade and stone artworks from the Neolithic Age, bronze swords from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.), pottery wares dating back to the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. - 220 A.D.) and the Ming Dynasty (1384-1644), and architectural wood carvings created during the Qing Dynasty (1644 A.D.-1911 A.D.). Most of them were for funerary purposes.

This is the third and largest handover since the U.S. and China signed a memorandum of understanding on import restrictions of Chinese antiquities in 2009.

The artworks were found by the FBI's Art Crime Team in April 2014, and were finally allowed to be sent back to China in 2019 thanks to five years of joint efforts from China's National Cultural Heritage Administration, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., the U.S. State Department and the FBI.