Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng speaks at the handover ceremony. Photo: Official WeChat account of the Chinese Embassy in the US

A total of 58 cultural relics, works of art and paleontological fossils were returned to China by the Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Program of the US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at a handover ceremony held by the Chinese Embassy in the US on Wednesday, according to a report published by the embassy's official WeChat account on Thursday.  

Among the returned items is a Bodhisattva statue from the Tianlongshan Grottoes in North China's Shanxi Province. The statue is a treasured work of art looted more than a century ago and taken overseas. Other items such as terracotta figures, stone statues and paleontological fossils also hold significant historical, cultural and scientific value, Chinanews.com reported. 
 
Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng said at the ceremony that the return of these cultural relics is a tangible outcome of the two countries' implementation of the consensus reached by the two heads of state during their meeting in Beijing and their efforts to build a constructive relationship of strategic stability. 
 
It demonstrates both sides' sense of responsibility toward history, respect for civilizations and commitment to justice, setting a positive example for other countries. It once again shows that China-US cooperation can deliver major, practical and positive results that benefit both countries and the wider world, said Xie. 

Rao Quan, vice minister of culture and Tourism and head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, said the return of the cultural artifacts marked the latest outcome of China-US cooperation in implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state during their meeting in Beijing in the field of cultural heritage. 
 
It also represents an important collaboration between government departments of the two countries under an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding on restricting the illicit import of Chinese cultural objects into the US. The cooperation will further promote people-to-people exchanges between China and the US and strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, Rao said.