Chinese Lawmakers Divide Over Opening of Relics Market

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 26, 2002

Chinese Lawmakers Divide Over Opening of Relics Market

Chinese lawmakers Thursday fiercely debated whether the country should cautiously open its cultural relics market to private collectors.

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Chinese lawmakers Thursday fiercely debated whether the country should cautiously open its cultural relics market to private collectors.

Transactions of cultural relics have always been monopolized by the State. It bans people and organizations other than those approved by the cultural administrative authority form doing such business.

Private holders may sell their relics but they are prohibited from making profit. And they are strictly banned from selling cultural relics to foreigners.

Draft amendment to permit private transactions

A proposed amendment to the law on the protection of cultural relics would permit private transactions of cultural relics while the nation enhances supervision and management of the cultural relics market.

The ongoing 27th session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC) held a third round of deliberations on the draft amendment Thursday.

The draft amendment says people can get legally maintained cultural relics through purchases or exchanges.

The regulation was drafted in response to calls by some legislators to meet the increasing demand of private cultural relics collectors, who believe opening the market will help protect cultural relics, said Zhou Keyu, vice-director of NPC Law Committee.

"Private transactions of cultural relics will help collect those treasures that may have drained," legislator Xie Youqing said.

Noting that grave robberies and embezzlement of cultural relics by management staff are still rampant, legislator Zhu Kaixuan said Thursday that the law should put some restrictions onthe transaction of cultural relics among private holders.

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