Laws of the People's Republic of China

    1. These Measures are formulated in accordance with the provision that
"ordinary cultural relics in existence before the Sixtieth Year of the Reign
of Emperor Qian Long of the Qing Dynasty may, subject to the special
permission of the State Administrative Bureau of Museums and Archaeological
Materials, be exported" contained in the first point of the Proposals on
Strengthening the Commercial Administration of Cultural Relics and
Implementing the Policy for the Protection of Cultural Relics, which was
submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Commerce and the
State Administration for Protection of Cultural Relics and which has been
approved and transmitted by the State Council for implementation.

    2. The specially permitted export of cultural relics shall be strictly
controlled in accordance with the principle of causing no adverse political
effects and no leakage of State secret. It is imperative to act in accordance
with the changes in the international cultural relics market and seize upon
the favourable opportunities in order that the export of a small quantity of
cultural relics will bring in a relatively great amount of foreign exchange so
as to support the development of the socialist four modernizations.

    3. The criteria for cultural relics (including those passed down from
former generations and those unearthed) that may, with special permission, be
exported are as follows: (1) they shall be those of which there are large
numbers of replicas and which are overstocked; (2) they shall be those
unearthed during archaeological excavation which, after the completion of the
tasks of scientific research, are no longer in value for domestic
preservation; (3) they shall be those which, in addition to satisfying the
conditions set forth in items (1) and (2), are strictly below the third-class
(inclusive) as specified in the classified criteria of assessment for museums
formulated by the State; and (4) in assessing cultural relics to be exported,
any objects whose authenticity is hard to determine at the moment or
disputable shall not be exported for the time being so that the outflow of
important cultural relics out of carelessness can be avoided.

    4. The head office of the antique shops is hereby enjoined to handle in a
unified way the work with respect to the export of cultural relics as
specially permitted. The cultural relics needed shall be supplied by the
departments for cultural relics in the various localities. The head office of
the antique shops shall, prior to the specially permitted export of cultural
relics, make a list of the items of the cultural relics concerned and the
quantities thereof and submit the list to the Cultural Relics Assessment
Panel, which shall put forward their conclusions drawn from the academic
assessment of the listed cultural relics as to their respective ages,
authenticity and value. The list shall finally be subject to the examination
and approval of the State Administration for Protection of Cultural Relics,
which shall then issue a Special Permit for Export of Cultural Relics.

    5. With respect to cultural relics that may, with special permission, be
exported, the head office of the antique shops shall, after the State
Administration for Protection of Cultural Relics has approved the export
thereof, conduct studies in conjunction with the relevant foreign trade
department and determine through consultation the specific mode(s) of export
and the prices. If the mode of open sales is adopted, the sales operations
may, in accordance with the principle of benefiting the State as much as
possible, be exclusively entrusted to the foreign trade departments or be
handled by the antique shops under the department for cultural relics.