China retrieves 58,000 relics in law enforcement campaign

BEIJING — About 58,000 pieces of cultural relics were retrieved in China's yearlong law enforcement campaign targeting cultural relic-related crimes, said the Ministry of Public Security on Aug 31.

During the campaign, initiated on Aug 31, 2020, police departments across the country solved 2,200 cultural relic-related cases, apprehending more than 4,500 suspects and busting over 450 criminal gangs, the ministry said.

As a result of the campaign, the number of cultural relic criminal cases in 2020 is the smallest since 2013, said the ministry. It added that the number of cultural relics retrieved in the campaign is more than that from the three campaigns since 2017 put together.

During the period, the ministry also teamed up with the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) to improve the security status of museums nationwide.

As cultural relic crime is still relatively prevalent, the ministry and the NCHA have decided to prolong the campaign by a year, said an official with the ministry.