by China Daily

A Dutch private collector who owns a 1000-year-old Buddha statue with a mummified monk inside is willing  to return it to a Chinese village if it is proved that the statue was stolen from there.

The collector, an Amsterdam architect, said if there is proof that the statue belongs to "for example a Buddhist community that  still exists", he is willing to surrender it, as long as it does not go to a museum.

The collector said several pictures in the Chinese media resemble the statue he owns, but he has many doubts.

"It is said the statue was stolen in 1995, but it was already  in the Netherlands then...

"Research in recent years also shows that the mummy is from a temple much bigger and more important than the local temple in Yangchun (Fujian province)."

Last week, the statue was removed from an exhibition at the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest, where it was on loan from the Drents Museum in  the Netherlands. Further identification work is being carried out.

China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage said that based on photos, local archives and witness statements, it could confirm that the statue in Amsterdam was stolen from Yangchun.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

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Austria sets its sights on AIIB

Vienna 'attaches great importance to the institution'; ROK submits its application

by Li Xiaokun

Austria has joined the list of countries apllying for membership of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, with the European nation's president saying in Beijing on Friday that Vienna attaches great importance to the institution.