A total of 68 cultural relics, including porcelain, pottery and bronze items, have been returned to China from the United Kingdom after 25 years, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration. The relics, which were smuggled overseas, were retrieved following joint efforts by the administration and the foreign affairs and customs authorities.

The regained artifacts that can be dated to 770 B.C. are on display on the administration's website.

According to the administration, nearly 4,000 pieces or sets of lost cultural relics have been returned in recent years. However, over 10 million relics taken away since 1840 are still in museums in the U.S., UK and France and in private collections.

International recovery of relics usually takes years or even generations. First, it needs sufficient information to determine the identities of the artifacts. Then the cumbersome legal process in some countries increases the time taken for recoveries. Overall, it requires great determination and persistence on the part of cultural relic workers.

This is an edited excerpt of an article originally published in Guangming Daily on November 23  

(Print Edition Title: Recovering Cultural Relics)