Returned cultural relics embody China-Italy cooperation in cultural heritage: official

The returned cultural relics from Italy to China have embodied the fruitful cooperation in cultural heritage between the two countries, said an official from China's National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA).

Chinese President Xi Jinping and visiting Italian President Sergio Mattarella appreciated some of the 56 Chinese cultural relics recently returned by Italy at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday.

The cultural relics displayed to the two heads of state were painted potteries of the Majiayao culture which originated in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and its tributaries. With around 5,000 years of history, the culture forms a significant part of the origin of the Chinese civilization.

Wen Dayan, director general of NCHA's international cooperation department, said that the returned cultural relics epitomize mutual exchanges and learning between the two ancient civilizations.

"This time, the Italian government returned 56 cultural relics to China, and today we showed the eight most representative pieces, which basically cover the main archaeological types of the Majiayao culture of the Neolithic Age in China. Both China and Italy are influential ancient civilizations. Actually, in 2006, the two countries signed a bilateral agreement to prevent the smuggling of cultural relics. In March 2019, the National Cultural Heritage Administration and the cultural heritage authorities of Italy renewed an inter-governmental memorandum of understanding on preventing the illegal entry and exit of cultural relics and promoting their return. It is under such a legal and diplomatic framework that we can witness the return of 56 lost Chinese cultural artifacts to their motherland today," said Wen.

"What the two heads of state appreciated are not only these Chinese cultural relics, but also the long-standing Chinese civilization, as well as the fruits in cultural heritage cooperation and cultural exchange and mutual learning between two ancient civilizations in this era. The work on returning lost Chinese cultural relics has endowed us with high contemporary value and lasting historical value," he said.

Mattarella is on a state visit to China scheduled for Nov 7 to 12, at the invitation of Xi.

Italy's latest return of Chinese cultural relics is vivid example of China-Italy friendship: Chinese official

China held a ceremony on Tuesday to commemorate the 158th birth anniversary of Sun Yat-sen, a great national hero, a great patriot, and a great forerunner of China's democratic revolution.

Hosted by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the event took place in downtown Beijing's Zhongshan Park, a site named after Sun.

Senior officials from the CPPCC National Committee, the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and the Beijing municipal government laid flowers in front of Sun's statue.

Leading officials from the central committees of non-Communist parties and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, alongside representatives of prominent figures without party affiliation, also paid their respects.

Sun Yat-sen, born in 1866 in south China's Guangdong Province, played a leading role in the 1911 Revolution, which overthrew the imperial Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and ended more than 2,000 years of feudal rule in China.

China marks 158th birth anniversary of Sun Yat-sen