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TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL ACTS SERIES 19-114.1 

CULTURAL EXCHANGES, PROPERTY 

AND COOPERATION 

Import Restrictions 

Memorandum of Understanding 

Between the 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

and CHINA 

Signed at Beijing January 10, 2019 
 

 

NOTE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

Pursuant to Public Law 89—497, approved July 8, 1966 

(80 Stat. 271; 1 U.S.C. 113)— 

“. . .the Treaties and Other International Acts Series issued 

under the authority of the Secretary of State shall be competent 

evidence . . . of the treaties, international agreements other than 

treaties, and proclamations by the President of such treaties and 

international agreements other than treaties, as the case may be, 

therein contained, in all the courts of law and equity and of maritime 

jurisdiction, and in all the tribunals and public offices of the 

United States, and of the several States, without any further proof 

or authentication thereof.” 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHINA 

Cultural Exchanges, Property and 

Cooperation: Import Restrictions 

Memorandum of understanding signed at 

Beijing January 10, 2019; 

Entered into force January 14, 2019. 
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING 

BETWEEN 

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

AND 

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 

CONCERNING THE IMPOSITION OF IMPORT RESTRICTIONS 

ON CATEGORIES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIAL FROM THE PALEOLITHIC 

PERIOD THROUGH THE TANG DYNASTY AND MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE AND 

WALL ART AT LEAST 250 YEARS OLD 

The Government ofthe United States ofAmerica and the Government ofthe People's Republic of 

China ("the Parties"); 1: 

Acting pursuant to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing 

the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer ofOwnership ofCultural Property, to which both countries 

are States party; 

Desiring to reduce the incentive for pillage of irreplaceable archaeological material representing 

China's rich cultural heritage; and 

Recalling the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Imposition ofImport Restrictions 

on Categories ofArchaeological Material from the Paleolithic Period Through the Tang Dynasty 

and Monumental Sculpture and Wall Art at least 250 Years Old, signed at Washington January 14, 

2009, as amended and extended by an exchange of notes at Beijing January 6 and 8, 2014 ("the 

prior MOU"); 

Have agreed as follows: 

ARTICLE I 

1. The Government ofthe United States ofAmerica, in accordance with its legislation entitled 

the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, shall restrict the importation into the 

United States of archaeological material originating in China and representing China's cultural 

heritage from the Paleolithic Period through the end of the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 907), and of 

monumental sculpture and wall art at least 250 years old as ofJanuary 14, 2009, the date the prior 

MOU entered into force, which may include categories of metal, ceramic, stone, textiles, other 

l 
organic material, glass, and painting identified on a list to be promulgated by the United States 

Government (hereinafter referred to as the "Designated List"), unless the Government of the 

People's Republic of China issues a license or other documentation which certifies that such 

exportation was not in violation of its laws. For the purposes of this Memorandum of 

Understanding, the restricted Paleolithic objects date from approximately 75,000 BC. 

2. Such import restrictions went into effect under the prior MOU on January 16, 2009, the 

date of the publication of the Designated List in the U.S. Federal Register, the official U.S. 

Government publication providing fair public notice. These import restrictions shall continue to 

be effective under this Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU) as provided in Article IV herein. 

3. The Government ofthe United States ofAmerica shall offer for return to the Government 

of the People's Republic of China any object or material on the Designated List forfeited to the 

Government ofthe United States ofAmerica. 

ARTICLEII : 

1. Both Governments shall publicize this MOU and the reasons for it. 

2. The Government ofthe People's Republic ofChina shall continue to use its best efforts to 

maintain and share with the Government of the United States of America information about 

unauthorized excavations, thefts of cultural property, trafficking of cultural property, and other 

threats that jeopardize its cultural patrimony. 

3. The Government ofthe People's Republic ofChina shall continue to use its best efforts to 

take steps consistent with the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and 

Preventing the Illicit Export, Import, and Transfer ofOwnership ofCultural Property to protect its I 

cultural patrimony. To assist in these efforts, the Government ofthe United States ofAmerica shall 

use its best efforts to facilitate technical assistance to the Government the People's Republic of 

China as appropriate under available programs in the public and/or private sectors. 

4. The Government ofthe People's Republic ofChina shall continue to use its best efforts to 

engage other countries having a significant import trade in archaeological material from the 

People's Republic ofChina to deter a serious situation ofpillage ofcultural property. 

l 

5. Each Government shall use best efforts to encourage further interchange ofarchaeological 

material for cultural, educational, and scientific purposes, including long-term loans of such 

materials to promote widespread public appreciation ofand access to China's rich cultural heritage. 

6. Each Government shall continue to endeavor to keep the other informed of the measures 

taken to implement this MOU. 
ARTICLEm 

The obligations ofboth Governments and the activities carried out ~thisMOU shall be subject 

to 1heir respective laws and regulations, including those with respect to ·the availability of 

appropriated funds. 

ARTICLE IV 

1. This MOU shall enter into force on January 14, 2019. Upon entry into force, it shall 

supersede and replace the prior MOU, and shall remain in force for a period of five (5) years. 

unless extended. 

2. This MOU may be extended and amended only by mutual written consent ofthe Parties. 

3. The Government of the United States of America and the Government of the People's 

Republic ofChina shall review the effectiveness ofthis MOU before the expiration ofthe five (5)­

year period in order to determine whether the MOU should be extended. 

4. Either Party may notify the other, in writing through diplomatic channels, ofits intention 

to terminate this MOU prior to its date ofexpiry. In such a case, the termination shall come into 

effect six (6) months after the date ofnotification. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized by their respective 

Governments, have signed the present MOU. 

DONE at Beijing, this J(J f:tJ-. day ofJanuary, 2019, in duplicate, in the English and Chinese 

languages, both texts being equally authentic. 

FOR TIIE GOVERNMENT OF FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF 

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
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