A total of 39 suspects were arrested for illegally selling cultural relics and robbing the tomb of Qian Liu, according to the public security bureau of Hangzhou City in eastern China's Zhejiang Province. All the 175 stolen pieces from the tomb have been recovered.

Qian Liu was known as the founder of the Wuyue Kingdom during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907 AD – 960 AD) of Chinese history. His tomb is in Lin'an District of Hangzhou City.

In June 2001, the State Council of China announced that the mausoleum site of Wuyue Kingdom, including the tomb of Qian Liu, in Lin'an was one of the fifth batch of key cultural relics under national protection.

After investigation and research, the public security organs successfully uncovered the case of excavating and robbing ancient tombs and illegally reselling cultural relics. So far, 39 criminal suspects have been arrested and 223 relevant pieces of cultural relics have been recovered. Among them, two suspects have been found guilty of digging and robbing the tomb of Qian Liu.

After comparing and checking the photos of cultural relics taken when the suspect committed the crime, combining the confession and identification, it was confirmed that all 175 stolen cultural relics from the tomb of Qian Liu had been recovered.

Archaeological experts said that from the identification, most of these relics are in good condition, with high historical, artistic and scientific value. Among them, there is no lack of porcelain, gold and jade belt and other precious relics.

Unlike other tombs, which were mostly located in remote locations, the tomb of Qian Liu is less than one kilometer from the local government and only 38 kilometers from Hangzhou city.

It is reported that a local heritage park, based on the tomb of Qian Liu, is under construction and is expected to open in June this year.

(Cover: A shrine in tomb of Qian Liu in Lin'an District of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China. /CFP)