国务院批转外贸部、商业部、文物局关于加强文物商业管理和贯彻执
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（December 16， 1974） The Proposals on Strengthening the Commercial Administration of Cultural Relics and Implementing the Policy for the Protection of Cultural Relics， submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Trade， the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration for Protection of Cultural Relics， is hereby transmitted to you for you to act upon accordingly. PROPOSALS SUBMITTED BY THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN TRADE， THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND THE STATE ADMINISTRATION FOR PROTECTION OF CULTURAL RELICS ON STRENGTHENING THE COMMERCIAL ADMINISTRATION OF CULTURAL RELICS AND IMPLEMENTING THE POLICY FOR THE PROTECTION OF CULTURAL RELICS In recent years， the cultural， foreign trade and commercial departments in various localities have scored some achievements in purchasing cultural relics and organizing the export of ordinary cultural relics. At present， however， there still exist some problems with respect to the administration of the commercial market for cultural relics， which are mainly manifested in operations by too many departments， unified pricing and confusion of market. Some departments even purchase unearthed cultural relics without authorization， thus encouraging the frenzy to “dig up tombs for buried treasures”。 All this has proved extremely detrimental to the protection of cultural relics. Chinese Cultural relics are our historical cultural heritage. The export of rare， precious cultural relics shall， without exception， be prohibited. With respect to ordinary cultural relics which are of relatively recent times， for which there are plenty of replicas and which are not valuable enough for collection， an appropriate amount may be exported in an organized way. Nevertheless， as these cultural relics are passed down from the past， their sources of supply will only decrease with each passing day. Moreover， as they are special commodities uniquely possessed by us， there are no such questions as competition with other countries. It is therefore unadvisable to “sell them in batches”。 Rather， we must follow closely the propensity of changes in supply and demand relationship and prices in the international market， adopt the principle of “exporting a small quantity at a time to secure longer supply but striving to earn greater amount of foreign exchange”， and organize the export in a planned way. Commercial market operations for cultural relics， shall be handled exclusively by an authorized department， with unified purchase and pricing and strengthened administration. To facilitate the protection of cultural relics and the export of ordinary cultural relics in an organized way so as to bring in foreign exchange earnings and support socialist construction， we now submit our proposals as follows： 1. On the limits of export and the standards for assessment with respect to cultural relics. Before new standards are formulated， the existing provisions shall continue to be implemented. Of those cultural relics in existence after the Sixtieth Year of the Reign of the Qian Long Emperor of the Qing Dynasty （i.e. 1795 A.D.） that may be exported in accordance with the existing standards， the more valuable and rare ones （including representative modern art works）， shall be put under strict restrictions. Ordinary cultural relics in existence before the Sixtieth Year of the Reign of the Qian Long Emperor of the Qing Dynasty may， with the special permission granted by the State Administrative Bureau of Museums and Archaeological Materials， be exported. The export of revolutionary cultural relics or objects that are evidence of counter-revolutionary crimes shall， without exception， be prohibited， irrespective of their times. 2. On the division of work as to the administration and the business operations in the business of cultural relics. Antique shops shall be placed under the leadership of the cultural departments. Provinces， autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government where there are no antique shops shall have them established gradually. Antique shops that are now under the leadership of foreign trade departments shall immediately be placed under the leadership of the cultural departments instead. The business personnel and real estate （including the warehouses） of the original antique shops， as well as the cultural relics in stock which the foreign trade departments and other departments have banned from being exported， shall be handed over to cultural departments. The cultural relics taken over may be priced at the same level as when they were formerly purchased. Funds and warehouses of cultural relics departments may be appropriately increased if they are in shortage. From now on， cultural relics in various localities shall be exclusively purchased by antique shops. Pearls， gems， jadeite and diamonds that do not fall within the scope of cultural relics shall be unifiedly purchased by foreign trade departments （or shall be purchased by unique shops and other agencies that are entrusted by foreign trade departments with such purchase on their behalf）。 Antique shops shall be responsible for the supply of cultural relics commodities that the foreign trade departments need for export. The sales departments of antique shops， friendship stores and suppliers for foreign vessels shall only handle replicas of cultural relics and ordinary cultural relics that have undergone assessment and selection and are classified as being exportable. But they may only engage in retail business and not in wholesale. Cultural relic commodities shall be sold at prices unifiedly fixed by foreign trade departments. No banks， friendship stores or suppliers for foreign vessels and commission shop， etc. shall be permitted to purchase cultural relics. Cultural relics commodities that are to be sold to foreign visitors by the sales departments of friendship stores and suppliers for foreign vessels shall be supplied by foreign trade departments. 3. It is imperative for cultural relics， commercial and foreign trade departments to co-ordinate their work and strengthen their co-operation. The cultural relics department shall guard against the one-sided mentality of caring only about collection while neglecting export and shall adopt a more active approach in assessing and selecting cultural relics that are exportable and supply them to foreign trade departments for export. If any one comes to hand over or sell cultural relics to commercial or foreign trade departments， these departments shall immediately notify the local cultural relics department so that the case shall be properly handled. Cultural relics that are found mixed with commodities purchased shall be sorted out and handed over to the cultural relics department in good time. 4. Copper refineries， paper mills and salvage stations shall see to it that the cultural relics found from among the recovered waste materials are not disposed of as waste materials， but shall coordinate with the cultural relics department in sorting them out. The exportable objects among them shall be handed over to the cultural relics department， which shall then provide them to foreign trade departments for export. An equivalent quantity of copper shall be offered by the State in return for the copperware sorted out and handed over. 5. Cultural relics commodities shall be exported via the four designated ports of Beijing， Shanghai， Tianjin and Guangzhou and the Customs shall grant clearance only on condition that the commodities have been assessed and approved as exportable by the cultural relics department. No cultural relics that have not been assessed and approved as exportable may be exported. No ports that have not been duly designated shall be permitted to handle the export business of cultural relics commodities and the Customs in various localities shall do a good job of checking and make sure that this provision is complied with. 6. Cultural， foreign trade and commercial departments and other departments concerned shall actively publicize the policy for the protection of cultural relics and protect ancient tombs and historical cultural sites from damage or destruction. It is imperative to strengthen the administration of the commercial market for cultural relics， resolutely crack down on the smuggling and profiteering in cultural relics， guard against foreigners who may take advantage of loopholes in our work and prevent important cultural relics of collection value from going out of China. If there is nothing inappropriate about the aforesaid proposals， it is requested that they be approved and transmitted to the various provinces， autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government for implementation with reference thereto. |
