Argentina returned 14 pieces of cultural relics and artworks to China on the 27th, and the relevant cultural relics were intercepted in 2017, all of which were illegally exported cultural relics.
It is preliminarily judged that the age of 7 bronze Yong bells returned this time should be the late Spring and Autumn period; The rest of the terracotta figurines 3 pieces, figurine head 2 pieces, bronze frog 1 piece, bronze helmet 1, the era between the Han Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the relevant cultural relics were handed over to the Chinese Embassy in Argentina on the 27th, and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage will arrange the return of cultural relics and other related work in due course.
Chinese Ambassador to Argentina Wang Wei said that this cooperation not only demonstrates Argentina's full respect for the national feelings and cultural rights and interests of the Chinese people, but also reflects the firm determination and close cooperation between China and Argentina to protect human cultural heritage, combat cultural relics smuggling, and earnestly implement international conventions, and has accumulated valuable experience for the two countries to further strengthen cooperation in various fields.
In 2017, the Cultural Heritage Protection Division of the Argentine Federal Police was seized under the "Red Catalogue of China's Endangered Cultural Relics" jointly issued by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and China during Operation Athena, an international joint operation against illicit trafficking in cultural objects by Interpol.