China Economic Net

Economic Daily - China economic network, Beijing, April 21 (reporter Cheng Qi) on April 20, 2018, the State Administration of cultural relics officially released the database of foreign stolen cultural relics. The construction of the database will help to prevent foreign stolen cultural relics from entering China, further strengthen the information support for China's law enforcement agencies, and enhance the legal awareness and risk protection of the public and professionals.

China is a party to the UNESCO Convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict, the Convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illegal import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property, and the Convention on stolen or illegally exported cultural relics issued by the International Association for the unification of private law 20 countries have signed bilateral agreements or memoranda of understanding on the prevention of theft, theft and illegal trafficking of cultural heritage. According to the spirit of international conventions and bilateral agreements, since 2008, the State Administration of cultural relics has released 38 batches of more than 6900 pieces of stolen cultural relics reported to China by Ecuador, Iraq, Peru and other countries. The database of foreign stolen cultural relics released this time contains the information of foreign stolen cultural relics previously reported in batches, and will be updated in real time according to the notification of other countries.

In the past three decades, the increasingly active international cultural and cultural relics exchange activities have promoted the diversified and diversified development of world civilization and enhanced the understanding and communication among different nationalities. But at the same time, the destruction of cultural heritage has gradually become a severe test faced by the international community. The theft and illegal trafficking of cultural relics is an important reason for the depletion of cultural heritage resources and the destruction of historical memory and cultural genes in many countries.

China is a big country of cultural heritage and a firm defender of the international order in the field of cultural heritage protection. It has always adhered to the position of returning illegally lost cultural relics to the country of origin, and actively promoted and supported international cooperation in combating theft, excavation and illegal trafficking of cultural relics. In recent years, under the framework of international conventions, bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding, the State Administration of cultural relics has made many breakthroughs in the field of recourse and return of lost cultural relics, and has successfully facilitated the return of many batches of illegally lost Chinese cultural relics to the motherland. For example, through law enforcement cooperation, the governments of the United States, Switzerland, Australia, Canada and other countries have been promoted to return 26 pieces of illegally lost cultural relics to China; through negotiation and negotiation, the French National Museum and collectors have been able to return the stolen gold ornaments from dabaozi mountain, Gansu Province, and facilitate friendly people from France to donate the heads of mice and rabbits in the Yuanmingyuan Garden to me. At the same time, the director general of the State Administration of cultural relics is committed to deepening the information sharing and cooperation mechanism in the field of cultural relics recovery and return. In 2010, the State Administration of cultural relics and the China Association of museums issued the "red list of Chinese endangered cultural relics" through the platform of the International Association of museums to warn governments, law enforcement agencies, museums and collectors of risks. In 2017, the Ministry of public security and the State Administration of cultural relics jointly issued the "red list of Chinese endangered cultural relics" "China's stolen (lost) cultural relics data release platform" will be released to countries around the world and international organizations such as the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to provide information support for cooperation in combating theft and excavation of cultural relics.

At the same time, as a big country of cultural relics, China also actively undertakes the corresponding international responsibilities and obligations, respecting and supporting the rights of other countries to protect their own cultural heritage. The construction of foreign stolen cultural relics database is an important measure for China to support the international cooperation in combating the illegal trafficking of cultural relics.

In the next step, the State Administration of cultural relics will also inform and require the administrative departments of entry and exit of cultural relics and the administrative departments of cultural relics at the provincial level to further strengthen the supervision on the entry, exit and circulation of cultural relics suspected to be stolen from foreign countries, and also call on the public, professional institutions and people engaged in the protection, collection and management of cultural relics to participate in or carry out In the circulation of cultural relics, we should refer to the database of foreign stolen cultural relics in time, abide by the relevant legal requirements and moral standards, and consciously resist the trading of stolen cultural relics from other countries, and contribute "China's strength" to the protection of the common cultural heritage of mankind.