China

A major new marketplace or simply a case of wishful thinking? That was the question as the Association of Accredited Auctioneers (Triple-A) and their Beijing-based partners, Huachen Auctions, held a much-heralded auction in south east China.

Fine art, antiques and collectables worth £8m, consigned from the UK by a consortium of regional auctioneers, arrived safely and without incident in China in time for a ground-breaking sale at the Xiamen Free Port in Fujian Province.

Christie’s are to hold auctions in Shanghai from this autumn, making them the first international fine art auction company to win a licence to operate independently in mainland China.

TEFAF have announced that they are in discussions with Sotheby’s about the possibility of launching a high-end art fair in mainland China next year.

The latest TEFAF market report values the global art market at €43 billion for the last year. The figure was 7% down the previous year, but the fall is wholly explained by a €3.5bn decline in sales in China.

Fine art, antiques and collectables worth £8m, consigned from the UK by a consortium of regional auctioneers, are currently on a container ship heading to China.

The Association of Accredited Auctioneers (Triple-A), founded in 2012 by 19 UK auctioneers to attract Chinese buyers, are to hold an auction of Western fine art and antiques in China.

The Chinese government is considering regulation of the country’s burgeoning but problematic art market.

Fishermen are reported to have discovered another ancient shipwreck, complete with cargo, in the South China Sea near Vung Tau off the South East coast of Vietnam.

Beijing-based auction house China Guardian is reported to be launching a sales programme in Hong Kong this autumn.

A NEW live auction platform which will give UK auctioneers direct access to Chinese bidders has been launched in Beijing.

IT took 50 bids and half an hour to auction this RMB370m (£35m) scroll, by Qi Baishi (1864-1957) at Beijing's China Guardian on May 22 – the latest demonstration of the breadth of mainland demand for modern Chinese paintings by the country's most acclaimed artists.

CHINA’s fourth largest auction house, the Beijing Council International Auction Company, have opened an office in the US with the aim of sourcing material to sell in mainland China.

CHINA has pushed the United Kingdom into third place as a player in the world art market and is now second only to the United States.

EXPERIMENTAL technology designed to determine the age of ceramics by scientific means is now being put to use at the heart of the Chinese works of art trade.

A SERIES of guidelines designed to encourage standard and proper practice in the fine art auction industry in China were unveiled on June 31. They are the first measures of their type since sales by auction were permitted to resume in the People’s Republic 23 years ago.

BEIJING auctioneers Poly established a new milestone for Chinese art on June 3 selling a 38ft (15m) long calligraphic hand scroll by a Song Dynasty master for RMB390m ($57.4m) plus 12 per cent buyer's premium.

BEIJING-based auction house China Guardian has published record sales results for 2009.

CHINA is to encourage the return of its cultural heritage by offering overseas collectors “reasonable compensation”.

ATG's www.the-saleroom.com launches the first live internet bidding sale in Beijing this Friday. The Seasonal Sale at Huachen Auctions offered an online catalogue in both English and Chinese via the-saleroom's online platform.