Chinese Ambassador accepts returned cultural relic from US: Chinese Embassy

Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng, on behalf the Chinese government, on Thursday formally accepted a tiger-shaped plaque artifact that was returned by a US private institution, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said Friday on its official WeChat account.

At the handover ceremony, Xie expressed appreciation and sincere gratitude to the US institution for voluntarily returning the relic. He noted that the artifact's return allows its historical, artistic, and scientific value to be properly preserved, while also adding positive momentum to China-US cultural exchanges.

China will showcase the story behind the tiger-shaped plaque through exhibitions and public displays so that more people can learn about the friendship between the peoples of the two countries, said Xie.

He encouraged wider public support in promoting the return of lost cultural relics to their countries of origin, contributing to enhancing mutual friendship and advancing the development of China-US relations, according to the embassy.

The tiger-shaped plaque, crafted in the distinctive bronze style of the Ordos region, dates to the Spring and Autumn (770 BC - 476 BC) and Warring States (475 BC - 221 BC) periods. The artifact is a key relic for studying ancient grassland culture and interethnic exchanges in China.

This return marks another successful repatriation handled by the Chinese Embassy in the US, following the return of the Zidanku Silk Manuscript volumes II and III: Wuxing Ling and Gongshou Zhan from the Warring States period by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Asian Art in May this year.