Staff members hold parts of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts as they arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport on May 18, 2025. The manuscripts returned home 79 years after they were illegally taken to the US in 1946. Photo: VCG
China has been elected chair of the Eighth Meeting of 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, marking the first time the country has assumed the role, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The two-day meeting concluded Tuesday in Paris.
Huo Zhengxin, a law professor at the China University of Political Science and Law and an observer to the 1970 Convention, described China’s election as chair as “a significant result of the country’s efforts to actively engage in the convention’s work.”
“It reflects China’s growing role in strengthening international cooperation to combat the illicit trafficking of cultural property and promote the return of lost artifacts,” Huo noted.
The 1970 Convention is widely regarded as the most important multilateral mechanism for combating the illicit trafficking of cultural property and facilitating the return of stolen artifacts. The Convention currently has 147 state parties.
Huo noted that the chairmanship includes responsibilities such as presiding over meetings and setting agendas, which will help China strengthen its voice in global discussions on cultural heritage protection.
“It will allow China to speak more effectively on behalf of countries where cultural relics have been lost, deepen both multilateral and bilateral cooperation, and play a more active role in international cultural heritage governance,” he said.
The Meeting of the States Parties is tasked with setting strategic priorities for the convention, guiding its implementation, reviewing reports from member states, and formulating recommendations and guidelines to support enforcement.
Since China’s participation in the 1970 Convention in 1989, it has since actively aligned its domestic policies with the convention’s principles. The country has introduced a series of measures to prevent and combat the illegal import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property, while steadily improving its legal and regulatory framework, said Yang Xinyu, China’s ambassador and permanent delegate to UNESCO as well as chair of the current meeting.
The country’s revised Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics, which establishes a clear mechanism for the recovery and return of lost cultural relics, took effect on March 1. “The state reserves the right to reclaim cultural relics lost overseas due to theft or illegal export, and this right is not subject to any time limitation,” the law states.
“This is the first time China has established a legal framework in its domestic legislation regarding the statute of limitations for reclaiming lost relics,” Huo said.
“The reaffirmation of the statute of limitations and international cooperation is crucial because in past cases, repatriated artifacts were often modern relics rather than ancient ones.”
Internationally, China has actively participated in international efforts to combat the illegal trafficking of cultural property. Under the framework of the 1970 Convention, China has reached bilateral agreements with 27 countries to prevent the theft, looting and illegal cross-border transport of artifacts.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, 59 batches totaling 2,310 lost Chinese cultural relics and artworks have been returned from overseas, according to the National Museum of China.
In 2024 alone, the Chinese government facilitated the return of 213 items across eight batches from countries and regions including Italy, the US, Japan and Argentina. On Sunday, China’s earliest known silk texts, the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts volumes II and III, were returned to China from the US. These precious artifacts, once held by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, have now ended their 79-year journey abroad.
Former Egyptian minister of tourism and antiquities Khaled El-Enany told the Global Times in an earlier interview that “Egypt and China, like many other nations, share the important challenge of reclaiming cultural artifacts that are vital to our histories and identities.”
“I believe the repatriation of such artifacts should be approached in a spirit of mutual respect, understanding and cooperation among all nations,” he said.
In 2014 and 2024, China voiced its stance regarding the issue of recovering lost cultural relics in Dunhuang and Qingdao, respectively, strongly supporting international fairness and justice, and contributing a Chinese solution to the protection and return of cultural relics lost throughout history.