Authorities retrieve 31,000 cultural relics

About 31,000 lost or stolen cultural relics were recovered in China last year, the National Cultural Heritage Administration said on Wednesday.

It said 2,134 cases related to the theft and illegal excavation of underground relics were solved in 2020, and 2,435 suspects were captured, thanks to joint efforts by the administration and the Ministry of Public Security.

The number of cultural relics cases reported last year was down about 20 percent year-on-year.

Major cases were solved in Shanxi, Anhui, Hubei, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

"A common problem faced by law enforcement units in cultural relics protection is that we lack enough people," an unnamed official in charge of the inspection department of the administration said.

"New technology was thus introduced in related work."

Satellite remote sensing and drones were used to monitor cultural relics, and misbehavior by enterprises and organizations was detected through new online platforms.

Public supervision also played a key role, with the administration's 12359 hotline receiving 1,523 reports from the public about violations related to cultural relics last year, which led to cases involving historic sites being handled in a timely manner.

Fire continues to be a major threat to the safety of cultural relics.

Of the 12 cases last year at key heritage sites under national-level protection, seven concerned illegal excavation and theft, and two were about fires.

The administration launched a three-year project to improve firefighting and security facilities at the country's museums and cultural relic institutions last year.

Central and local governments allocated 1.28 billion yuan ($196 million) last year for 847 related projects.

"No severe fires or security violations with a broad influence on society happened last year at cultural heritage sites and museums," the official said.

"But we have no room to be negligent. Rigid supervision and cooperation among different departments are key."

In China, 23 provincial-level administrative regions have included the safety of cultural relics in their evaluation systems for local governments.

The National Cultural Heritage Administration and the Logistics Support Department of the Central Military Commission released the first national guidance last year for protection of "unmovable cultural relics"－such as historic monuments, archaeological sites and ancient architecture－within military barracks.