For some months since it made headlines, the world has had its eyes on a thousand-plus year-old Buddha statue, which was stolen from China 20 years ago. China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced that a process has been initiated to recover the statue from the private Dutch collector Oscar van Overeem.

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Overeem released a statement via a local newspaper stating that he is ready to return the relic if the statue is confirmed to be the one stolen from China. He also expects that if returned, the statue will go the village where it was originally worshipped as opposed to being exhibited in museums.

In May, the MummieWorld Exhibition in Budapest showcased the statue which contains a mummified monk. Experts quickly noted that the relic looks very similar to the one taken from the Puzhao Temple, Fujian in 1995.

Overeem claimed to have bought the statue for 40,000 Dutch guilders ($20,500) in 1996 from a collector in Amsterdam, who got it in Hong Kong. 

Recently, Overeem approached journalists at Xinhua News Agency emphasizing that he can scientifically confirm that the statue is not the one from Yangchun village.

According to van Overeem, he arranged the return of the statue to China, however, he emphasized that it should be housed in a grand temple rather that in a small temple in a village.

"I've suggested adding the statue to a series of Chinese collections. In that case, if someone buys them for China, no one knows the single price of the statue. However, they refused to do so," Oscar van Overeem said.

TagsBuddhist relic, China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Oscar van Overeem, Dutch, Dutch collector, Mummy World Exhibition, Puzhao Temple, Fujian, mummified monk, Mummified Monk in Statue