A pair of vases, probably from late Yuan (1271-1368) or early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Dynasty, which were speculated to be stolen from the same tomb. [Photo/Provided by the National Cultural Heritage Administration]

In 1998, over 3,000 relics were returned to China, thanks to the cooperation of the law enforcement units, civil lawsuits, and negotiations, marking the largest-scale repatriation in a single instance of lost Chinese cultural relics in the history of New China.

However, a local buyer of some relics refused to join the negotiation, leaving dozens of relics in the UK and dragging the case into deadlock.

They were in the store of the British police and but Guan said frequent contact between the two countries' governments never stopped. A silver lining finally appeared.