Statistics from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization suggest that about 1.67 million Chinese cultural relics are held by more than 200 museums in 47 countries.

Some estimates put the number of relics held by private individuals at 10 times that figure amid warnings that China's heritage is under critical threat from tomb raiders and thieves supplying a booming overseas market.

Experts and non-governmental organizations have set the wheels in motion to begin the effort, called China Cultural Relics Recovery Program, the China Daily said.

According to program head Zhang Yongnian, the group will focus on items that were illegally taken out of the country between 1840 and 1949.

``The spiritual wealth can be shared [by the whole world], but not the ownership, just like the property rights on software,'' said senior cultural heritage preservation expert Xie Chensheng.

``Ownership of the scattered cultural treasures should lie with the Chinese people.''

Program director-general Wang Weiming was keen to stress there would be no indiscriminate witchhunt.

``We don't mean to retrieve all the Chinese relics stored in foreign museums,'' he said. ``Our next step is to compile the list of relics that need to be returned.''

He said the first item the mainland wants back is a recognized artistic treasure, but he did not say what it is.

Previous reports said authorities have more difficulty than they did a decade ago preventing relics from leaving the mainland because those who previously took them to Hong Kong have now developed more than 100 routes to get them overseas.

Many relics are simply taken from museums, Buddhist or Taoist temples and other historical sites.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE