Today, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage issued a notice on printing and distributing the "Administrative Measures for the Transfer of Archaeological Excavated (Unearthed) Cultural Relics (Trial Implementation)," hereinafter referred to as the "Measures," which will be implemented on a trial basis for two years from the date of issuance.

The archaeological artifacts unearthed (or unearthed from underwater) as referred to in the Measures are physical materials with historical, artistic, and scientific value obtained during archaeological activities conducted in the underground, inland waters, territorial seas, and other jurisdictional sea areas within the territory of the People's Republic of China.

The Measures clarify that the transfer of archaeologically unearthed (or underwater) cultural relics should adhere to the principles of prioritizing cultural relic safety, scientific evaluation and classification, and standardized management and utilization, while also taking into account the reasonable needs of national, provincial, and site-specific collecting institutions. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage will guide the transfer work nationwide in accordance with the law, while provincial-level cultural relic administrative departments will be responsible for managing the transfer work within their respective administrative regions.

The regulations stipulate that archaeological excavation units should transfer cultural relics to designated collection units within six months of submitting the archaeological excavation report; if the units do not have the conditions for publishing the report, they should transfer the relics within six months of submitting the archaeological project completion report or publishing the archaeological bulletin. Archaeological excavation units must submit an application to the provincial cultural relics administration department and jointly prepare a transfer plan with a collection unit that has the necessary receiving conditions. The plan must be implemented after review and approval, and a transfer agreement must be signed. Archaeological excavation projects involving significant disputes over the transferred cultural relics or those spanning multiple provinces must be submitted to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage for review.

The regulations emphasize that receiving institutions of cultural relics must complete the establishment of accounts, archives, and grading of the relics within one year of receipt, and properly manage, protect, research, and display them, while also safeguarding the intellectual property rights of the archaeological excavation units. For excavation units that violate the regulations or receiving institutions that fail to fulfill their responsibilities, the cultural heritage administration department will handle the matter according to law or designate another receiving unit. (Source: CCTV News)