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The memorandum was signed in Washington on Thursday by Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs Goli Ameri, said Dong Baohua, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), at a press conference.
The agreement's full name is Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Categories of Archeological Material from the Paleolithic Period through the Tang Dynasty and Monumental Sculpture and Wall Art At Least 250 Years Old.
Under the memorandum and U.S. legislation entitled the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, the U.S. government shall restrict the importation into the United States of archeological material originating in China and representing China's cultural heritage from the Paleolithic Period through the end of the Tang Dynasty, the year 907, and monumental sculpture and wall art at least 250 years old.
The U.S. government will promulgate a list of archeological material categories of metals, ceramic, stone, textile, other organic material, glass and paintings, which will be restricted to import from China, unless the Chinese government issues a license or other documentation which certifies that such exportation is not in violation of its laws, the memorandum says.
For the purpose of this memorandum, the restricted Paleolithic objects date from approximately 75,000 B.C., according to the memorandum.
China and the United States are both States Party of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The convention was adopted by the UNESCO in 1970.
For years, the Chinese government has attached importance to cracking down on the stealing, illegal digging, and smuggling of cultural relics and tried to cooperate with the international community in the crackdown, by participating in internationals conventions and signing bilateral and multilateral agreements on the issue.
In addition to the newly-signed Sino-U.S. memorandum, China has signed similar agreements with Peru, India, Italy, the Philippines, Greece, Chile, Cyprus, and Venezuela, according to the official.