China has welcomed France's new law easing the restitution of colonial-era looted artworks – which could help it recover some of its treasures looted during the sacking of the Old Summer Palace in 1860 by British and French forces.
Issued on: 16/05/2026 - RFI
The destruction of the imperial gardens by British and French troops in 1860 is still regarded as a symbol of the aggression and humiliation inflicted on China by the Franco-British alliance.
© Wikimedia Commons CC BY sa 3.0/颐园新居
A French law easing the restitution of artworks looted during the colonial era between 1815 and 1972 was published in the Official Journal last weekend, following its final approval by MPs.
“China attaches great importance to the bill recently adopted by the French National Assembly simplifying procedures relating to illegally acquired cultural property," said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting in Beijing with President Macron’s diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne.
Yi added that he wished to "strengthen co-operation with the French side on this issue".
For Beijing, the new legislation raises hopes of recovering some of the thousands of objects looted during the sacking of the Old Summer Palace in 1860 by British and French forces – including items held in the collection of Empress Eugénie at the chateau of Fontainebleau south of Paris.
The Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan Park, was a vast imperial complex built in the 17th century around 15 kilometres north-west of Beijing’s Forbidden City. Its gardens were destroyed by British and French troops in 1860 during the Second Opium War.
The destruction remains a potent symbol in China of the humiliation inflicted by the Franco-British alliance.
Domestic and foreign policy considerations
China’s growing interest in recovering some of the thousands of looted artefacts is closely tied to both domestic and foreign policy, says Emmanuel Lincot, research director at the Indo-Pacific Geopolitical Observatory (IRIS) and author of Geopolitics of Heritage.
“China paid very little attention to its ancient heritage in the past,” Lincot explained. “Quite simply because, until Mao’s death in 1976, the regime was atheistic – a Communist society that had completely broken with the past.
"From the 1980s onwards, however, and even more so since Xi Jinping came to power, we have seen a restoration of the legitimacy of the imperial period, very likely aimed at allowing the Communist Party to legitimise its own position by placing itself within a broader historical continuity.”
Lincot also notes that the shift comes as relations between China and Europe broadly, and France in particular, are increasingly strained.
“Contemporary Chinese nationalism is fundamentally fuelled by anti-Western resentment and by the demand for the return of these imperial artefacts,” he said. “Yet 60 years ago, the same Chinese Communist Party was encouraging the systematic destruction of this ancient heritage.”
The new law allows the French government to return artworks by decree, removing the need for a separate law for each individual object, as was previously the case.
The legislation applies only to property acquired between 20 November 1815 and 23 April 1972 – dates marking the start of the Second French Empire and the eve of the implementation of a Unesco convention on the transfer of cultural property.
This article was adapted from the original version in French.
A French law easing the restitution of artworks looted during the colonial era between 1815 and 1972 was published in the Official Journal last weekend, following its final approval by MPs.
“China attaches great importance to the bill recently adopted by the French National Assembly simplifying procedures relating to illegally acquired cultural property," said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting in Beijing with President Macron’s diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne.
Yi added that he wished to "strengthen co-operation with the French side on this issue".
For Beijing, the new legislation raises hopes of recovering some of the thousands of objects looted during the sacking of the Old Summer Palace in 1860 by British and French forces – including items held in the collection of Empress Eugénie at the chateau of Fontainebleau south of Paris.
The Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan Park, was a vast imperial complex built in the 17th century around 15 kilometres north-west of Beijing’s Forbidden City. Its gardens were destroyed by British and French troops in 1860 during the Second Opium War.
The destruction remains a potent symbol in China of the humiliation inflicted by the Franco-British alliance.
Domestic and foreign policy considerations
China’s growing interest in recovering some of the thousands of looted artefacts is closely tied to both domestic and foreign policy, says Emmanuel Lincot, research director at the Indo-Pacific Geopolitical Observatory (IRIS) and author of Geopolitics of Heritage.
“China paid very little attention to its ancient heritage in the past,” Lincot explained. “Quite simply because, until Mao’s death in 1976, the regime was atheistic – a Communist society that had completely broken with the past.
"From the 1980s onwards, however, and even more so since Xi Jinping came to power, we have seen a restoration of the legitimacy of the imperial period, very likely aimed at allowing the Communist Party to legitimise its own position by placing itself within a broader historical continuity.”
Lincot also notes that the shift comes as relations between China and Europe broadly, and France in particular, are increasingly strained.
“Contemporary Chinese nationalism is fundamentally fuelled by anti-Western resentment and by the demand for the return of these imperial artefacts,” he said. “Yet 60 years ago, the same Chinese Communist Party was encouraging the systematic destruction of this ancient heritage.”
The new law allows the French government to return artworks by decree, removing the need for a separate law for each individual object, as was previously the case.
The legislation applies only to property acquired between 20 November 1815 and 23 April 1972 – dates marking the start of the Second French Empire and the eve of the implementation of a Unesco convention on the transfer of cultural property.
This article was adapted from the original version in French.
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