China’s ambassador to Egypt, Liao Liqiang, welcomed the return of 31 ancient coins that were handed over yesterday by the Egyptian government. “The Chinese side sincerely thanks Egypt for protecting and returning cultural property stolen from the country of origin,” said Ambassador Liao on Twitter.

This is a highly contentious issue among many African countries, and China, who’ve expressed anger that artwork and other antiquities taken from their countries during the colonial period have not been returned. France, for its part, has promised to hand back African artifacts but has apparently been very slow to do so, according to a report in The New York Times.