Beijing, June 18: The United States has returned six ancient Chinese terracotta figures smuggled to the country after preventing them from being auctioned by Sotheby's, the state media reported today. The terracotta figures were stolen in March 2002 by grave robbers from a tomb of a princess in the western Han dynasty (206BC-24AD) in western Chinese city of Xi'an.
The figures were smuggled to the US and slated for a Sotheby's auction the same month.
"Thanks to the joint efforts by law enforcers of the two countries, these cultural relics were withheld from auction and returned to China," Xinhua news agency reported.
Chinese ambassador to the US, Yang Jiechi, said the return of the terracotta figures indicated that the dynamic cooperation between China and the United States in law enforcement is really developing in depth and width.
He noted that cooperation between law enforcement authorities of the two countries constitutes an important part of their bilateral ties, and has yielded positive results, citing the recent uncovering of a trans-national drug smuggling gang. Bureau Report