Thirty Buddhist cultural relics have been returned to the Chinese mainland     1     Taiwan.

Most of the relics were believed to     2     (steal) from Shanxi province before being taken overseas. They were transferred to the National Cultural Heritage Administration on Monday,     3     (mark) the largest return of lost relics to the mainland from Taiwan in recent years.

Thirteen of the returned pieces, including the heads of broken Buddhist images and painted sculptures of Buddha,     4     (show) at the National Museum of China on Monday.

In March 2016, Hsing Yun, the     5     (found) of the United Association of Humanistic Buddhism association, and his followers escorted (护送) the lost head of a 6th-century Buddhist stat ue to Beijing and donated it back to the mainland. At the donation ceremony in 2016,     6     was also held at the National Museum of China, Hsing Yun promised     7     (bring)more lost items back.

He died about a year ago.

“Hsing Yun established     8     outstanding example for people to safeguard Chinese cultural relics,” Sun Yeli, minister of culture and tourism, said at the museum on Monday. “Again, we see his unfulfilled wish get realized.”

Sun said comprehensive studies of the relics will be soon launched. Related exhibitions will also be organized to allow people on     9     sides of the Strait to benefit from the fruits of the joint protection of cultural relics.

“Cultural communication has always played an     10     (extreme) crucial role in enhancing people-to-people connectivity across the Strait and strengthening our links,” Sun said.

China     1     (have) over 1.09 billion netizens (网民) by the end of last year, 24.8 million more than the amount in 2022, a report released by the China Internet Network Information Center said on Friday. The report showed that 2,577 websites and mobile phone applications optimized (优化) functions     2     provided barrier-free services for old and disabled users last year so that     3     (them) could benefit more from the Internet.

Digital technologies have also been     4     (wide) applied in public services, such as travel and healthcare,     5     (make) more people live better lives. The number of netizens using online car-hailing and medical services increased significantly last year, up to 90.57 million and 51.39 million respectively from December 2022. In addition, the rapid growth of the Internet has stimulated     6     (consume) and promoted the sustainable development of the digital economy.

Wang Changqing,     7     official from the center, said while introducing the report that live streaming platforms have become major channels to advance cultural and     8     (economy) development. For instance, in March last year, a large number of Internet users watched basketball matches     9     (organize) by Guizhou province through live streaming platforms, attracting more people to visit the province and contributing a lot     10     local tourism, he added.