Beijing seminar highlights role of law in recovering lost relics

Wang Yunxia, a law professor at the Renmin University of China and holder of the UNESCO Chair on Cultural Heritage Law, was invited to comment on the students' presentations. Wang noted that the success of the Zhanggong Patriarch statue case was attributed to parallel litigation in two countries and the effective use of domestic policies and regulations.

She emphasized that to excel in heritage protection, legal professionals must possess not only specialized knowledge in various fields but also a strong sense of social responsibility. She called for further exploration of issues such as safeguarding immovable cultural relics and protecting the rights and interests of local residents in legal practice.

Ren Pengju, an associate law professor at the Guizhou University of Finance and Economics and executive director of the China-ASEAN Legal Education and Research Center, stated that cultural heritage protection requires collaborative efforts across multiple disciplines.

He advised college students aspiring to work in heritage protection to seek internships with UNESCO and argued that more efforts, such as organizing exhibitions and forums and drafting international initiatives, should be made to raise awareness of relic protection and empower the cause of repatriating lost cultural treasures.

In her concluding remarks, Xu expressed a commitment to furthering professional research and enhancing the influence of legal protection of cultural heritage, aiming to contribute to national heritage protection through legal means.