（Approved by the State Council on December 31， 1990 and promulgated¹ by Decree No. 1 of the State Bureau of Cultural Relics² on February 22， 1991）
颁布日期：19910222 　实施日期：19910222 　颁布单位：国务院批准、 国家文物局发布

　　Article 1 These Measures are formulated³ with a view to strengthening the administration of the foreign-related archaeological activities， protecting the ancient cultural heritage of China and promoting its academic exchanges in the archaeological field with foreign countries.

　　Article 2 These Measures shall apply to the archaeological investigation⁴， exploration and excavation⁵ as well as to the related studies， scientific and technological⁶ protection and other activities which are conducted by the relevant Chinese units （hereinafter referred to as Chinese party） in collaboration⁷ with foreign organizations or international organizations （hereinafter referred to as foreign party） on the land territory， in the inland waters and the territorial⁸ seas of China as well as in other sea area within the jurisdiction⁹ of China.

　　Article 3 Any foreign or international organization that intends to conduct archaeological investigation， exploration or excavation in China must undertake it in collaboration with China.

　　Article 4 The State Bureau of Cultural Relics shall be in charge of the unified¹⁰ administration of the foreign-related archaeological activities throughout the country.

　　Article 5 For the purposes of these Measures，

　　（1） “archaeological investigation” refers to such activities， conducted for the purpose of obtaining archaeological materials and information， as archaeological recording¹¹ of ancient cultural sites， ancient tombs， ancient architectures， cave temples and other underground and underwater cultural relics， and collecting of cultural relics and natural specimens¹²；

　　（2） “archaeological exploration” refers to exploring activities aiming at obtaining such basic information as the nature， structure and range of underground or underwater historical cultural remains¹³；

　　（3） “archaeological excavation” refers to such activities， conducted for the purpose of obtaining archaeological materials and information， as scientific discovering and archaeological recording of sites of ancient culture， ancient tombs and other underground and underwater cultural relics as well as collecting of cultural relics and natural specimens；

　　（4） “archaeological recording” refers to such activities conducted in a systematic¹⁴ manner as written description， surveying cartographing， rubbing， photographing， cinematographing and videotaping；

　　（5） “natural specimens” refers to natural remains obtained in archaeological investigation， exploration and excavation.

　　Article 6 Archaeological activities of investigation， exploration or excavation jointly¹⁶ conducted by the Chinese and foreign parties shall be guided by the following principles：

　　（1） the two parties in collaboration shall jointly carry out a project of archaeological investigation， exploration or excavation and a joint¹⁵ archaeological team shall be organized， with the Chinese experts taking the overall charge；

　　（2） the two parties in collaboration shall jointly sort out the data obtained from archaeological investigation， exploration or excavation and prepare reports thereof all within the Chinese boundaries. The reports shall be co|signed by the two parties in collaboration and the Chinese party shall have priority for the publication thereof；

　　（3） cultural relics， natural specimens and the originals of archaeological recording obtained in the activities of archaeological investigation， exploration or excavation conducted in collaboration shall be owned by China and have their safety ensured；（4） the two parties in collaboration shall abide¹⁷ by the laws， regulations and rules of China.

　　Article 7 A foreign party that intends to conduct archaeological investigation， exploration or excavation in collaboration with a Chinese party shall submit a written application therefore to the State Bureau of Cultural Relics in light of the following items：

　　（1） intent of collaboration；

　　（2） object， scope and purpose；

　　（3） plan for team organization；

　　（4） working procedures and measures for safety and technical protection of the cultural relics， etc；

　　（5） sources of funds and equipments and mode of management；

　　（6） handling of accidents and risk sharing.

　　Article 8 Any application for collaboration in an archaeological project of investigation， exploration or excavation shall satisfy all the following conditions：

　　（1） it is conducive¹⁸ to China's protection of cultural relics and archaeological studies as well as to the international cultural and academic exchanges；

　　（2） the Chinese party has already laid down a foundation in the project and made some progress in the studies， and has its own experts engaged in the studies of the subject area in question；

　　（3） the foreign party shall be a specialised archaeological research institution with experts in the subject area in question or in a similar subject area as well as proper experience in archaeological practice； and

　　（4） there are reliable measures for the protection of the excavated¹⁹ cultural relics.

　　Article 9 The State Bureau of Cultural Relics shall subject an application of a foreign party to an preliminary examination in conjunction with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， and then， in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State， transfer the application to the relevant departments in charge of national defence， foreign affairs， public security， national security and others for further examination， if it is found satisfactory through the examination， the State Bureau of Cultural Relics shall submit the application to the State Council for special approval.

　　Article 10 After the special approval is granted by the State Council to a project of collaboration for archaeological investigation， exploration or excavation， an agreement shall be signed by the two parties in collaboration on the specific matters of the approved project