皮诺先生：鼠首兔首归国，见证中法友谊 Mr Pinault: The return of the bronze rat's and rabbit's heads is a witness to the friendship between China and France

6月28日，中法建交六十周年暨圆明园鼠兔首回归特别纪念活动在中国国家博物馆举办。

2013年，在中法建交50周年前夕，时任法国总统奥朗德访华期间，出于对中国文化的热爱和对中国人民的友谊，法国皮诺家族决定将圆明园鼠首、兔首无偿归还给中国。2013年6月，两件兽首顺利回归中国，并在中国国家博物馆里向公众展出。近日，纪录片《国宝回家》在央视播出，讲述在中法两国通力合作下国宝回家背后的动人故事。

“捐赠最重要的回报，是看到过去10年里，大概有六七千万人来到中国国家博物馆，这几乎和法国人口一样多，太不可思议了！”法国开云集团董事会主席兼首席执行官弗朗索瓦-亨利·皮诺在活动上说，他还发现，80%-90%参观博物馆的游客都是年轻人，“这是这个国家充满活力和智慧的标志，中国的文化生活不仅仅停留于过去，博物馆是给每一代人的礼物，这是中国发出的一个非常强烈的信号。”他希望这件事能提高人们对保护文化遗产重要性的认识，促进两国文明相互理解。（中青报·中青网记者张诗童）

On 28 June, the 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between China and France and the special commemorative activities for returning the bronze rat's and rabbit's heads in the Yuanmingyuan were held in the National Museum of China.

In 2013, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, during the visit of then-French President Fran？ois Hollande to China, out of love for Chinese culture and friendship with the Chinese people, the French Pinault family decided to return the bronze rat's and rabbit's heads to China without compensation. In June 2013, the two bronze animal heads were successfully returned to China and displayed in the National Museum of China.

Recently, the documentary film “The Long Journey Home" was broadcast on CCTV, telling the moving story behind the return of the national treasures to China under the cooperation of China and France.

“The most important reward of this donation is to see like 60 or 70 million people went to the museum over the last 10 years. It’s probably as many people as French people. It’s incredible!” Speaking at the event, Fran？ois-Henri Pinault, chairman & CEO of Kering Group, France, said he had also found that between 80 and 90 percent of visitors to museums were young people, "which is a sign of the dynami *** , of the wisdom of this country, where all the spot of the culture of the living culture is not just the past. The museum is the present of all generations. And this is a strong signal from the Chinese country." He hoped that the event would raise awareness of the importance of preserving cultural heritage and promote mutual understanding between the two civilizations. （Elena Zhang, Journalist from China Youth Daily）