Chinese police retrieved more than 37,000 cultural-relic items that were being held illegally in 2022, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said Wednesday.

The retrieved items included more than 3,800 valuable cultural relics. Movable cultural relics in China are divided into valuable cultural relics and ordinary cultural relics, according to the Law on Protection of Cultural Relics.

Over 1,700 criminal cases related to cultural relics were solved during the year, with more than 310 relevant criminal gangs busted, the ministry said.

The MPS and the National Cultural Heritage Administration have carried out yearly crackdown campaigns against cultural relic-related crimes for six consecutive years, and will extend the activity until 2025.

They will take stronger measures against criminal acts such as illicitly excavating sites of ancient culture and ancient tombs, and robbing stone carvings or components from cave temples and architectural structures, said the ministry.