Gongbei Customs has announced that its officers caught a male traveller attempting to smuggle seven Qing Dynasty coins from Zhuhai to Macau at the Qingmao pedestrian checkpoint.
Gongbei Customs announced the case, which was detected recently, in a statement yesterday.
The statement did not reveal the smuggler’s place of residence.
Customs officers at the checkpoint intercepted the man, and customs officers seized seven Qing Dynasty coins hidden in his crossbody bag.
After appraisal by the Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relics Authentication Station, the seven coins were confirmed to be genuine and classified as general cultural relics prohibited from leaving the Chinese mainland, based on national regulations.
Gongbei Customs reminded the public that according to the Cultural Relics Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), any cultural relics intended for export must undergo inspection by an authorised cultural relics exit-entry examination agency designated by the State Council’s cultural relics administration.
Upon approval, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage will issue an exit permit to verified cultural relics, and the relics can only be exported through designated border checkpoints.
Any entity or individual shipping, mailing, or carrying cultural relics out of the mainland must declare them to customs, and customs officers will release the items only upon presentation of the verified cultural relics’ export permits.
This undated handout photo provided by Zhuhai’s Gongbei Customs yesterday shows seven Qing Dynasty coins seized by Zhuhai’s Qingmao checkpoint customs officers.
