56 Chinese cultural relics returned from Italy as a part of an intergovernmental agreement.
On Friday night, President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan joined Italian President Sergio Mattarella and his daughter Laura Mattarella at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to view cultural relics recently repatriated from Italy.
This successful return follows Italy’s previous handover of 796 artifacts to China in 2019, as part of an intergovernmental agreement aimed at combating the illegal export and import of cultural properties between the two nations.
China and Italy have maintained a long-standing collaboration in cultural heritage, with a focus on recovering illegally transported relics. In 2006, the two countries signed a bilateral agreement to address artifact smuggling.
The 56 cultural artifacts recently returned from Italy were seized by the Italian Carabinieri between 2021 and 2023. The Italian authorities notified China’s embassy that they had secured 59 suspected Chinese cultural relics, requesting confirmation of their legal status.
Furthermore, the Chinese experts confirmed that 56 of the items were of Chinese origin, including a pottery figurine head from the Western Han Dynasty, a female standing figurine from the Tang Dynasty, a pottery beast from the Yuan Dynasty, and painted pottery vessels from the Majiayao Culture, dating back 4,000 to 5,000 years. Three items remain under review.
Under Chinese law, these relics were not authorized for export, leading to a formal request by the National Cultural Heritage Administration for their repatriation through diplomatic channels. The Italian government agreed to cooperate, facilitating their return.
Nineteen of the 56 artifacts were sent back to China in late October, with the remainder to follow soon.
Moreover, experts have identified the artifacts as originating from China’s Gansu, Qinghai, and Shaanxi provinces, noting their historical, artistic, and scientific significance. The Majiayao pottery vessels, for instance, offer insights into the origins and evolution of Chinese civilization, while relics from the Han, Tang, and Yuan dynasties reflect the stability, wealth, openness, and tolerance of their respective periods.
Additionally, by November, China had successfully recovered over 2,113 cultural relics through 48 separate batches.
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