TRIAL MEASURES FOR CONTROL OF THE EXPORT OF CULTURAL RELICS WITHSPECIAL PERMISSION

TRIAL MEASURES FOR CONTROL OF THE EXPORT OF CULTURAL RELICS WITHSPECIAL PERMISSION Important Notice: This English document is coming from the "LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA GOVERNING FOREIGN-RELATED MATTERS" (1991.7) which is compiled by the Brueau of Legislative Affairs of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, and is published by the China Legal System Publishing House.

In case of discrepancy, the original version in Chinese shall prevail.

Whole Document TRIAL MEASURES FOR CONTROL OF THE EXPORT OF CULTURAL RELICS WITH SPECIAL PERMISSION (Approved and promulgated by the State Council of the People's Republic of China on July 31, 1979) 1. These Measures are formulated in accordance with the provision that "ordinary cultural relics in existence before the Sixtieth Year of the Reign of Emperor Qian Long of the Qing Dynasty may, subject to the special permission of the State Administrative Bureau of Museums and Archaeological Materials, be exported" contained in the first point of the Recommendations on Strengthening the Commercial Administration of Cultural Relics and Implementing the Policy for the Protection of Cultural Relics, which was submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration for Protection of Cultural Relics and which has been approved and transmitted by the State Council for implementation.

2. The specially permitted export of cultural relics shall be strictly controlled in accordance with the principle of causing no adverse political effects and no leakage of State secret. It is imperative to act in accordance with the changes in the international cultural relics market and seize upon the favourable opportunities in order that the export of a small quantity of cultural relics will bring in a relatively great amount of foreign exchange so as to support the development of the socialist four modernizations.

3. The criteria for cultural relics (including those passed down from former generations and those unearthed) that may, with special permission, be exported are as follows: (1) they shall be those of which there are large numbers of replicas and which are overstocked; (2) they shall be those unearthed during archaeological excavation which, after the completion of the tasks of scientific research, are no longer in value for domestic preservation; (3) they shall be those which, in addition to satisfying the conditions set forth in items (1) and (2), are strictly below the third-class (inclusive) as specified in the classified criteria of assessment for museums formulated by the State; and (4) in assessing cultural relics to be exported, any objects whose authenticity is hard to determine at the moment or disputable shall not be exported for the time being so that the outflow of important cultural relics out of carelessness can be avoided.

4. The head office of the antique shops is hereby enjoined to handle in a unified way the work with respect to the export of cultural relics as specially permitted. The cultural relics needed shall be supplied by the departments for cultural relics in the various localities. The head office of the antique shops shall, prior to the specially permitted export of cultural relics, make a list of the items of the cultural relics concerned and the quantities thereof and submit the list to the Cultural Relics Assessment Panel, which shall put forward their conclusions drawn from the academic assessment of the listed cultural relics as to their respective ages, authenticity and value. The list shall finally be subject to the examination and approval of the State Administration for Protection of Cultural Relics, which shall then issue a Special Permit for Export of Cultural Relics.

5. With respect to cultural relics that may, with special permission, be exported, the head office of the antique shops shall, after the State Administration for Protection of Cultural Relics has approved the export thereof, conduct studies in conjunction with the relevant foreign trade department and determine through consultation the specific mode(s) of export and the prices. If the mode of open sales is adopted, the sales operations may, in accordance with the principle of benefiting the State as much as possible, be exclusively entrusted to the foreign trade departments or be handled by the antique shops under the department for cultural relics.