The Yuanmingyuan Park administration issued a proposal on October 18 to protect its lost cultural relics as a memorial for the 150th anniversary of the looting of the imperial garden. The proposal, part of commemorations held by the park administration, urged owners of Yuanmingyuan relics to resist the temptations of the antique trade and return them. It also made recommendations for the study and preservation of the relics.

Located in northwest Beijing, construction of Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace, began in 1709 and was once a resort for the imperial families of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It was pillaged and burned by British and French troops in 1860 during the Second Opium War, along with several other imperial gardens in Beijing. There are still about 1,500,000 relics plundered from Yuanmingyuan in foreign countries.