A picture of Dunhuang mural from Mogao Grottoes in Nouthwest China's Gansu province. File Photo. 

Yokohama International Auction, a Japanese company, has cancelled plans to auction off a number of murals and Buddist manuscripts from China’s Tang Dynasty (618-907), at the request of the Chinese Administration of Cultural Heritage, Thepaper.cn reported.

Business insiders noted that this is the first time China has successfully called off an overseas auction of Chinese relics. The suspended auction items include invaluable Dunhuang murals that were looted by Japanese archaeologist Ōtani Kōzui in the early 1910s. 

A picture has been widely circulated among Chinese collectors that shows a notice from the Chinese Administration of Cultural Heritage. The notice, issued on Oct. 21, demands that the Japanese auction house “respect international treaties, respect Chinese people’s feelings,” and cancel the intended auction of Chinese relics. The Chinese administration reserves the right to track the relics, the notice added.

The auction house confirmed that it did receive this notice from China, and decided to cancel the auction after an investigation and negotiation with the client. The items have been returned to their owner.