The cultural relics¹ date from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), encompassing² a variety of items, mainly ceramics³. They are from provinces including Jiangxi, Anhui, Fujian, Henan, Shaanxi, Hebei and Guizhou.

这些文物时间跨度从春秋到清代，质地多为陶瓷，地域分布江西、安徽、福建、河南、陕西、河北、贵州等。

 

Their return brings an end to a quarter-century of China's efforts to retrieve⁴ lost cultural relics from overseas, said Guan Qiang, deputy director of the administration.

国家文物局副局长关强表示，这批文物的回归，为中国政府持续25年的跨国文物追索行动画上圆满句号。

 

1995年2月，英警方向中国驻英使馆通报，在侦破一起国际文物犯罪案件过程中发现疑似中国文物，国家文物局初步鉴定为中国禁止出境文物。

 

British police seized all the items in an operation that March. They were later identified by NCHA personnel as lost cultural relics of China.Soon, the State Council, China's Cabinet, set up a special cross-departmental working group to bring them home.

当年3月，英警方截获扣押大量文物。国家文物局确认为走私中国文物。在国务院统一部署下，多部门组成“追索英警方查扣走私中国文物工作小组”。

 

In 1998, over 3,000 relics were returned to China after cooperation by law enforcement units, a lawsuit⁵ and negotiations⁶.

1998年，经过执法部门的合作、诉讼及谈判，3000余件返还文物回国。

 

However, a local buyer of dozens of remaining relics refused to take part in negotiations, and the civil dispute dragged on after hitting a deadlock⁷. The 68 relics remained impounded by British police.

但该案中一名文物购买人拒绝参与协商谈判，民事诉讼陷入僵局，涉案的68件文物一直被英警方扣押。

 

In January, the Metropolitan⁸ Police informed the Chinese embassy that the deadline for prosecution⁹ in the case had passed, but the whereabouts of the buyer were unknown. The police showed a willingness to return the items to China.

2020年1月，伦敦大都会警察局联系中国驻英使馆，告知因购买人去向不明，且扣押时间超过追诉期，主动提出希望将该批文物归还中国政府。

 

The Metropolitan Police Service handed the artifacts to the Chinese embassy in October.

2020年10月，伦敦大都会警察局将这批文物交接给中国驻英使馆。

 

The relics were transported in tailor-made cases and landed intact in Beijing on Oct 20.

10月20日，装在定制盒子中运送的文物完好无损地抵达北京。

 

1989年，中国接受联合国教科文组织1970年《关于禁止和防止非法进出口文化财产和非法转让其所有权的方法的公约》（the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit¹⁰ Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property），之后与20多个国家就打击非法文物交易以及流失文物追索返还签署双边协议（bilateral agreements on fighting the illegal transfer of and facilitating the repatriation¹¹ of relics）。

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