Chapter V Cultural Relics in People’s Collection

Article 50 Citizens, legal persons and other organizations, except institutions for the collection of cultural relics, may collect cultural relics obtained through the following channels:

(1) lawfully inheriting or accepting as gifts;

(2) purchasing from cultural relics stores;

(3) purchasing from auction enterprises engaged in auction of cultural relics;

(4) mutually exchanging or transferring in accordance with law the cultural relics lawfully owned by individual citizens; or

(5) other lawful channels prescribed by the State.

Cultural relics, as specified in the preceding paragraph, which are in the collection of citizens, legal persons and other organizations, except the institutions for the collection of cultural relics, may be circulated according to law.

Article 51 No citizens, legal persons or other organizations may purchase or sell the following cultural relics:

(1) state-owned cultural relics, except ones with the approval of the State;

(2) valuable cultural relics in the collection of the cultural institutions not owned by the State;

(3) such of the State-owned irremovable cultural relics as murals, carvings and components of buildings, except such of the State-owned irremovable cultural relics as murals, carvings and components of buildings that are dismantled according to law but are not collected by the institutions for the collection of cultural relics and therefore are not governed by the provisions in the fourth paragraph of Article 20 in this Law; or

(4) cultural relics not obtained through the channels provided for in Article 50 of this Law.

Article 52 The State encourages citizens, legal persons and other organizations, except the institutions for the collection of cultural relics, to donate the cultural relics in their collection to the institutions for the collection of State-owned cultural relics or to lend them to institutions for the collection of cultural relics for exhibition and research.

Institutions for the collection of State-owned cultural relics shall honor and comply with the wishes of donors and keep the donated relics in proper collection and preservation and make appropriate display of them.

No cultural relics that the State prohibits from leaving the country may be transferred, leased or pledged to foreigners.

Article 53 The establishment of cultural relics stores shall be subject to approval by the administrative department in charge of cultural relics under the State Council or by the administrative department in charge of cultural relics under the people’s government of the relevant province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, and the stores shall be administered according to law.

No cultural relics stores may engage in auction of cultural relics or set up auction enterprises for the purpose.

Article 54 Auction enterprises established according to law for the auction of cultural relics are required to obtain license for auction of cultural relics issued by the administrative department in charge of cultural relics under the State Council.

No auction enterprises engaged in auction of cultural relics may conduct business activities of purchasing or selling cultural relics or set up cultural relics stores.

Article 55 No workers of the administrative departments in charge of cultural relics may establish or participate in the establishment of cultural relics stores or auction enterprises engaged in auction of cultural relics.

No institutions for the collection of cultural relics may establish or participate in the establishment of cultural relics stores or auction enterprises engaged in auction of cultural relics.

The establishment of cultural relics stores or auction enterprises engaged in auction of cultural relics in the form of Chinese-foreign equity joint venture, Chinese-foreign contractual joint venture or wholly foreign-owned venture is prohibited.

Except for cultural relics stores and auction enterprises engaged in auction of cultural relics that have obtained approval, no other units or individuals may engage in business activities relating to cultural relics.

Article 56 Cultural relics to be sold by cultural relics stores shall, prior to their sale, be examined and verified by the administrative department in charge of cultural relics under the people’s government of the relevant province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government; and the ones approved for sale shall be marked by the said administrative department.

Cultural relics for auction by auction enterprises shall, prior to their auction, be examined and verified by the administrative department in charge of cultural relics under the people’s government of the relevant province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, and the matter shall be reported to the administrative department in charge of cultural relics under the State Council for the record; and where the said administrative department cannot determine whether the relics in question may be auctioned, it shall submit the relics to the administrative department in charge of cultural relics under the State Council for examination and verification.

Article 57 Cultural relics stores and auction enterprises shall, in accordance with the relevant regulations of the State, keep records of the cultural relics they purchase and sell or auction and submit the records to the administrative department in charge of cultural relics that originally examined and verified the relics for the record.

Where the client or buyer requests to keep his identity secret when auctioning cultural relics, the administrative department in charge of cultural relics shall do so, except where otherwise provided for in laws and administrative rules and regulations.

Article 58 When the administrative department in charge of cultural relics examines and verifies the cultural relics that are to be put up for auction, it may designate an institution for the collection of State-owned cultural relics to enjoy the priority in purchasing the valuable ones among them. The purchasing prices may, through consultation, be determined between the representatives of the institution and the trustor of the cultural relics.

Article 59 Banks, smelteries, paper mills and units for the recovery of old and waste materials shall be responsible, jointly with the local administrative department in charge of cultural relics, for sorting out cultural relics from among gold and silver articles and waste materials. The cultural relics thus sorted out, except for coins and other kinds of currency of past ages which are needed for research by banks and which may be kept by them, shall be turned over to the local administrative department in charge of cultural relics. Reasonable compensation shall be paid for the sorted out cultural relics that are turned over.