China bans looted antiques from going under hammer at mainland auction houses

Beijing also has priority in buying precious antiques, according to latest regulations

Three bronze heads, of a monkey, a tiger and an ox, are display at a private museum in Beijing in May 2000 after they were bought by a mainland company at an auction in Hong Kong. Considered national treasures from the old Summer Palace, the looted relics sparked an outcry from Chinese media, scholars and politicians when they were put up for sale. Photo: AFP

China has banned the auction of antiques looted from the country throughout history in its latest regulation on cultural relic auctions.

The document, issued by the State Administration on Cultural Heritage on October 20 and released on its website on Monday, stated that all cultural relics that were stolen, illegally unearthed, smuggled or looted from China would be banned from being auctioned in the country.

It also said the Chinese government had priority in buying precious antiques.

Imperial Chinese bronzes were auctioned by Christie’s on behalf of Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge in February 2009, despite pleas for them to be returned to China. Photos: AFP

An imperial Chinese bronze rabbit’s head is auctioned by Christie's in February 2009, after a French judge ruled that two bronze heads, which British and French forces looted from the old Summer Palace in Beijing towards the end of the Second Opium War, could go under the hammer. Photo: AFP

According to the regulation, the administration can appoint state-owned relic collection agencies to procure such pieces from their consignors at an agreed price. Those artefacts would no longer be accepted for auction.

The new regulation replaces a temporary rule on the auction of cultural relics that the administration issued in 2003, which banned the auction of antiques “with disputes regarding their right of disposition”.

The new version replaced that clause with much stronger wording that explicitly bans the auction of “historically looted Chinese relics”.

A rare Chinese Imperial gilt metal box from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), which was auctioned by Woolley and Wallis in Wiltshire, England, in 2011. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Internet commenters were quick to point out that the regulation applies only to auction houses on mainland China, while most valuable Chinese antiques are sold in overseas markets, such London, Paris, New York and Hong Kong.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation, about 1.67 million Chinese relics are housed in more than 200 museums across 47 countries.

The Chinese Cultural Relics Society said China had lost more than 10 million antiques since 1840 due to wartime looting and illegal excavations.

China has in the past resorted to bidding in overseas markets to recover its lost national treasures.

In 2000, the Poly Art Museum, owned by the state-owned Poly Group, won the bidding at Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctions in Hong Kong for three bronze heads looted from the old Summer Palace in Beijing by British and French troops in 1960.

This article was first published by SCMP. Read the original article here: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2042322/china-bans-looted-antiques-going-under-hammer-mainland