BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Francois-Henri Pinault said Friday that his family has taken pride in contributing to China's efforts to recover lost relics by donating looted bronze sculptures to the country.
Pinault, chairman and CEO of Kering, a leading luxury apparel and accessories group, is in Beijing with his father Francois Pinault to attend a ceremony to commemorate the donation of a bronze rabbit head and a bronze rat head at the National Museum of China on Friday.
The relics once appeared at Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace in northwest Beijing. They were looted by Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.
The two bronze heads were auctioned for 14 million euros (18.27 million U.S. dollars) each in Paris in 2009. The auction was strongly condemned by the Chinese government and the people.
He said he understood that both relics gained a great deal of attention from the Chinese people because they had not been returned to China.
The family managed to buy the sculptures from their previous owner and said in April that they would be returned to China.
Pinault said his family did not seek or ask for anything in return during the process.
He stressed that his family is dedicated to protecting cultural relics and boosting the development of culture and arts.
Pinault said the family believes in the importance of shouldering social responsibilities along with the pursuit of profits.
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