(ECNS) -- On Tuesday afternoon local time, authorized by China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration, the Chinese Consulate-General in New York and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York held a handover ceremony, during which the US handed to the Chinese government two important Chinese cultural relics which had been illegally transported overseas and seized in investigations.

This marks the fifth repatriation of cultural relics to China in recent years from US government agencies and the latest cooperation in the field of cultural heritage between the two countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a news briefing on Friday.

"Following the ceremony, our colleagues have started organizing the transportation of the relics back to China," Wang added

He pointed out that China is committed to expanding intergovernmental cooperation on combating and preventing the smuggling of cultural relics, as part of a broader effort to preserve humanity’s common cultural heritage.

"We stand ready to work with the US and other countries to step up exchanges and cooperation in the filed of cultural heritage preservation," he said.