Authorities hot on trail of missing cultural relics

Chinese study estimates up to 10 million artifacts from China scattered worldwide

Beijing has stepped up efforts to stop the sale of illegally obtained Chinese cultural relics by auction houses, collectors and museums.

In the latest case, Yokohama International Auction, in Japan, was informed by China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage on Oct 21 that several Tang Dynasty (618-907) frescoes and manuscripts of Buddhist sutras about to go under the hammer were stolen from China in the past century.