Chinese cultural relics returned from Italy displayed in National Museum of China

BEIJING -- Chinese cultural relics returned from Italy are on display at the National Museum of China in Beijing starting Wednesday.

The exhibition, titled "The Journey Back Home," showcases more than 700 pieces of repatriated Chinese artifacts, including a painted pottery pot from the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC - 8 AD), a colored camel pottery figurine from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and a white-glazed bowl from the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

China and Italy exchanged related certificates for returning 796 Chinese cultural relics on March 23. This batch of Chinese artifacts arrived in Beijing on April 10.

This was the largest return of lost Chinese cultural relics in nearly 20 years, according to Luo Shugang, China's Minister of Culture and Tourism.

The artifacts were found by accident. They were first noticed by a unit of Carabinieri, or the national gendarmerie of Italy, on the local relics auction market in 2007, which was followed by a domestic judicial trial.

Most of the artifacts were found to have been unearthed in China and made their way to Italy without legal exit permits. In accordance with relevant international conventions, China requested Italy to return the artifacts.

Italy's Milan City Court confirmed the Chinese government's ownership of the cultural artifacts in 2014 and made the final decision to return the 796 artifacts to China in November 2018.

The exhibition will be open until June 30.