Ministry Minutes | China, US should bring more benefits to both peoples: foreign ministry

China and the US should continue to work in the spirit of equality, mutual respect, and mutual benefit to bring more tangible benefits to both nations and their peoples, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

A returned paleontological fossil is pictured in Washington, D.C., Sept. 16, 2026. (Photo: Xinhua)

Spokesperson Guo Jiakun made the remarks at a regular press briefing in Beijing after China's National Cultural Heritage Administration reportedly received 64 cultural relics and paleontological fossils returned by the US' Homeland Security Investigations and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on Wednesday and Thursday in Washington and New York. The items had been seized by US law enforcement agencies during routine operations.

Guo said that since the signing of an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding on preventing illegal imports of Chinese cultural property into the US, bilateral pragmatic cooperation has yielded fruitful results, leading to the return of over 700 pieces or sets of lost Chinese cultural artifacts across more than 20 batches.

The latest repatriation represents a fresh outcome in implementing the common understandings reached by the two heads of state during their meeting in Beijing, Guo said, noting that it also demonstrates the broad prospects for building constructive strategic stability between China and the US.