French collector returns gold artifacts to China

A French collector on Monday returned 24 gold ornaments stolen from 2,000-year-old tombs to China, following a similar action earlier this year.

Christian Deydier made the hand-over while visiting northwest China's Gansu Province. They will be stored in Gansu Provincial Museum, according to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

The gold items came from tombs in Dabuzishan in Gansu. They belonged to residents of Qin, one of the many kingdoms during the Spring and Autumn period (770 BC-476 BC) of Chinese history. In 221 BC, the king of Qin united the kingdoms and became China's first emperor.

Deydier and another French collector Francois Pinault returned 32 artifacts from the same tombs in July, the first time cultural relics have been successfully returned to China following bilateral negotiations between the Chinese and French governments.

While attending an exhibition on the tombs, Deydier said he hoped all Dabuzishan artifacts lost in foreign lands could soon "return home and be united."

Xia Hongmin, vice governor of Gansu, extended gratitude on behalf of the provincial government, to Deydier for his two generous acts.

Tombs in Dabuzhishan were badly looted during the 1990s and a large number of relics, including the gold ornaments, were smuggled abroad. The gold ornaments may have been used to decorate coffins or for horse armor.

China has been campaigning for the return of a large number of its cultural relics, many of which were looted from tombs or royal palaces and are held by foreign museums and private collectors.

Earlier this year, a 1,000-year-old Buddha statue, with a mummified monk inside, was pulled from a Hungarian exhibition following allegations that it was stolen from a Fujian village. Its Dutch owner said he was willing to give it back to the village if it is proved to have been stolen from there. Endit