The Chinese government purchased letters believed to be of "revolutionary and historical significance" by exercising its preemption right at a commercial auction, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) confirmed Tuesday.

On May 30, China Guardian, a leading Chinese auction house, sold more than ten letters handwritten by Chen Duxiu, a Communist Party of China (CPC) founder and leading figure, to philosopher Hu Shi who was once Peking University president.

The letters were auctioned for 5.544 million yuan (813,000 U.S. dollars).

The SACH then decided to exercise its "preemption right" to buy the letters at the same price reached at auction, said a Guardian statement to Xinhua.

The Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics authorizes the government, also its representatives such as state-owned museums, to buy relics of important historical or cultural significance before other collectors.

In usual practice, if the government does not reach agreement on prices with the owner, the objects will be put on auction but the government enjoys preemption right before other bidders.

In this case, the SACH said it failed to clinch a purchase agreement with the letters' owner because of price disputes. The letters went to the Guardian's auction but the SACH informed all bidders that it might buy them after the auction.

The Guardian was notified by the SACH last Friday that the government had decided to purchase those letters, the company's statement said.

The final bidder did not voice opposition against the government purchase, it added.

"The bidder felt it a pity, but understood the SACH's decision."

Both Chen and Hu were key figures in the New Culture Movement between the 1910s and 1920s. The movement tried to solve the country's social problems by learning from the West and it denounced Confucian-dominated traditional culture.

The two were good friends but disagreed on communism.

Song Xinchao, a senior SACH official, said Chen's letters were addressed not only to Hu Shi, but also referred to Li Dazhao, another CPC founder, prominent essayist Zhou Shuren, pen named Lun Xu who was often eulogized by the ruling CPC, and influential linguist Qian Xuantong.

"The letters involved accounts on quite a few major revolutionary historical events which make them so significant in history," Song said.

In explaining how the government exercises its priority purchase right, Dong Baohua, vice SACH chief, said, government departments would not bid at auctions but would accept prices agreed upon at auctions.

Dong, however, emphasized that all auctions in China must be legitimate. "For items looted, stolen and smuggled out of China, the government will always have the right to seize them under Chinese jurisdiction," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2009)