A bull statue is pictured in an office of Danish Saxo bank in Copenhagen.

After the ceremony, Xi laid a wreath on Deng Xiaoping's statue to commemorate Deng's policy of reform and opening-up.

In November, the horse head bronze statue from Beijing's Old Summer Palace was exhibited at the National Museum of China.

A tourist poses in front of the bull statue at the Bund in Shanghai.

Flowers were laid in front of a statue of Sun by senior officials from the CPPCC National Committee, the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and the Beijing municipal government.

A lawsuit involving Zhang Gong Patriarch, an ancient Buddha statue, was a key step by Chinese courts in helping bring home relics through legal measures, Yang said.

The 1,000-year-old statue contains the mummified remains of Zhang Qisan, a monk known for helping people battle diseases and preaching Buddhist doctrines during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

In 2020, the court ordered Van Overeem to return the statue to Yangchun and Dongpu villages in Fujian.

The Dutch collector appealed to a higher court, claiming he bought the statue in Amsterdam in 1996.

The high court also identified the statue as a stolen, illegally exported cultural relic, adding it reflected the traditional customs of southern Fujian and holds a special meaning for the villagers.