In response to an auction by Christie's of two bronze sculptures taken from the Old Summer Palace in 1860, held despite China's protests, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) Thursday imposed limits on what the auction house can take in or out of China.

Entry and exit administrative departments for cultural heritage at all levels were ordered in a circular to carefully check "heritage items" that Christie's seeks to import or export. The notice also covers agents and employees of Christie's.

These entry-exit offices are separate from the customs administration.

Xinhua contacted Christie's Beijing office for comment by e-mail and phone but has not yet received a response.

Certificates of legal ownership must be provided for all items, the circular said. These documents must provide detailed information about the owners and the provenance (ownership history) of the items. Items with inadequate or missing documentation won't be allowed to enter or exit the country.

Entry and exit departments should immediately report to the SACH and local police and customs offices if they find relics owned by Christie's that might have been looted or smuggled, said the circular.

The circular said: "In recent years, Christie's has frequently sold cultural heritage items looted or smuggled from China, and all items involved were illegally taken out of the country." It didn't specify the items or transactions.

Earlier Thursday, the SACH issued a statement condemning Christie's auction of the sculptures and saying it would have "serious effects" on Christie's development in China."

It said in the statement that China did not acknowledge what it called the illegal possession of the two sculptures and would "continue to seek the return of the sculptures by all means in accord with related international conventions and Chinese laws."

According to the statement, SACH officials sought repeatedly to halt the sale through many means, including writing a letter to Christie's on Feb. 17 in a bid to stop the sale. However, it said, Christie's proceeded with the auction, violating international conventions and the "common understanding" that such artifacts should be returned to their country of origin.

It said the auction "damaged Chinese citizens' cultural rights and feelings and will have serious effects on Christie's development in China."

The two controversial relics, which are more than 200 years old, were auctioned Wednesday for 14 million euros (17.92 million U.S. dollars) each to anonymous telephone bidders in Christie's sale of the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge in the Grand Palace of Paris.

Christie's has refused to identify the bidders.

"I think our next action is to try to figure out their identities," said Li Xingfeng, one of the 81 Chinese lawyers who took part in the campaign to stop the auctions.

They would decide on a course of action after Liu Yang, head of the legal group, returned from Paris, he said.

Li said all the lawyers understood from the beginning that their efforts might fail.

"But our effort was rewarded by the attention this case attracted. We have heard condemnation of the parties in this deal. We are glad to see the reactions of the government and public," he said.

The two bronze sculptures, representing the heads of a rabbit and a rat, were among 12 animal head sculptures that formed a zodiac-themed water clock decorating the Calm Sea Pavilion in the Old Summer Palace of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) in Beijing.

They were looted when the palace was burned down by Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860. So far, five of the 12 bronze animal heads have been returned to China, while the whereabouts of five others are unknown.

The Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe filed a motion at the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris Thursday, seeking an injunction to stop the auction. The court rejected the motion Monday.

(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2009)