The 12-year-old animal of the Chinese zodiac, with different expressions of the painted clay pottery in the Ming dynasty, the plump paintings of the Tang dynasty, and the exquisite Hantao pottery... Recently, Gongbei Customs seized 25 pieces of imported pottery products that were reported by the Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relics. Identification station experts identified as artifacts. The reporter learned from Gongbei Customs today that this is the first time the customs has been seized to import cultural relics by way of submission.

According to an on-site inspection and customs officer's briefing, the cargo yard was recently inspected at the Gongbei Customs Express Control Center. Customs officers are carefully checking express shipments from overseas. At this time, 10 tickets were imported from Hong Kong and declared as goods such as “glass flower pots,” “stone dolls for decoration,” and “porcelain furnishings.” This caused the Customs officers to pay attention. After inspection, it was found that the boxes were all old pottery products. This led to the heightened vigilance of the Customs and immediately invited experts from the Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relics Identification Station to conduct professional appraisals.

**Expert identification: 25 pottery products are cultural relics, including 10 clay pots, green glaze pots, potters, pottery warehouses, etc. in the Han Dynasty, 1 painted pottery pottery in the Northern Dynasty, 1 painted maternity pottery in the Tang Dynasty, painted pottery in the Ming Dynasty.ä¿‘13 items.

It is worth noting that this is the first time that Gongbei Customs has seized cultural relics from its entry channels.

“The rapid development of China’s economy in recent years has driven the thriving of the art collection market in mainland China. The heat of art collections has caused a recurrence of cultural relics. Overseas treasures have returned. The shipments are from Hong Kong, and Hong Kong is the largest antique distribution center in Asia. There are antiques and hobbies who come from the Mainland to go to Taobao,” said an analyst from the Customs.

According to UNESCO statistics, of the more than 200 museums in 47 countries in the world, there are 1.67 million pieces of Chinese cultural relics recorded on record, and it is even more difficult to count the number of Chinese cultural relics scattered overseas. It is estimated that this number is 10 Times, and are all fine items in the literature, most of them were lost abroad before 1949.

In recent years, the domestic collection market has set off a return boom. According to some experts, the deeper reason lies in that with the rapid development of China's economy, a group of powerful private entrepreneurs are involved in the collection circle and are not afraid to bid heavily for auctions. The rise of emerging private collectors has directly sparked the fascination of art collections, attracting thousands of miles away from the overseas heritage of exiles. At the same time, as the cultural relics are investment products with tax avoidance functions, some people have specifically started a "return business", that is, "Taobao" in overseas markets, and then returned to the mainland to make profits. For example, many Chinese buyers have gone to the antique markets of Japan, the United States, and European countries to find treasures in recent years. The “Taobao Group” has never stopped searching. Compared to “going out”, the trend of losing cultural relics is “send in”.

It is reported that at present almost all auction companies in China have auctions collected from overseas, and have launched many special overseas reflow works. Both the quantity and the turnover have shown an upward trend, and the high-priced auction items that have set a new record are basically all Returning artifacts. According to statistics, among the numerous domestic auction companies, oversea relics account for more than 50% of the total. Among them, the return rate of overseas Chinese calligraphy and paintings and Ming and Qing porcelains reached more than 80%.

In addition, the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics, as amended in October 2002, allows folks to obtain cultural relics through various means such as purchases and auctions, and they can circulate according to law, which, to a certain extent, promotes the return of the National Treasure.

And why did the Gongbei Customs seize this batch of cultural relics? According to expert analysis, institutions or individuals that may be repurchasing cultural relics are not familiar with the relevant regulations, and do not rule out hidden situations, and refrain from leaving records for customs declaration.

In accordance with national laws and regulations, China only has prohibitive provisions for the departure of cultural relics. However, Gongbei Customs reminded that goods, articles carried or mailed into the country must be reported to the customs truthfully, and the customs supervision should be evaded by concealment or false reports. The customs will punish them in accordance with the “Regulations on the Implementation of Customs Administrative Penalties” and other related regulations.