Gold relics stolen from tombs return to Gansu

A French collector handed over 24 gold ornaments to China on Monday that were stolen from 2,000-year-old tombs, following a similar action earlier this year. Christian Deydier made the handover while visiting Northwest China's Gansu province. The ornaments will be stored in the 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). 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 negotiations between the Chinese and French governments.