Beijing Imperial City Art Trading Center opened Monday with the aim to forge an organization that will set an example in helping to regulate the art market. The center is the first of its kind in China.

Pine,Stone and Two Eagles by Li Kuchan

Lü Lixin, director of the Art Evaluation Committee with the Ministry of Culture, was appointed as director of the center, with all members of the 200-plus committee first-class experts enrolled in evaluating works for collectors.

"We will try effortlessly to make the evaluation process apparent and reliable," Lü announced at the opening ceremony in Beijing. "With my team working on this, I hope we will manage to set an example for all companies and organizations to create a healthy art market."

With years of work experience in the art market as a professor and an official, Lü said that art sales in China have been booming in recent years, but still face the problem of disorder. "It will eventually harm the market if there are too many imitations circling as genuine works," he said.

Within the art market, especially in dealings of antiques and master paintings, a critical problem is authenticity. With more and more precious items being sold at extraordinarily-high prices, questions on whether the items are genuine constantly arise.

During this year's spring auctions, a master calligraphic work by Huang Tingjian (1045-1105) of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) was sold for more than 400 million yuan ($60 million). Even after the sale, several professional collectors and art lovers questioned whether the work was original or just a clever imitation.

"We will work hard not only with our knowledge, but most importantly, with our conscience," said Zhang Rong, one of the new committee members, adding that she hoped with their efforts, collectors won't have to worry about the authenticity of an article.

The trading center will also incorporate various functions, such as auction houses, galleries and museums. With plans for masterpieces to be regularly on display, art lovers will be able to browse or buy at the center. Currently an exhibition of art master Li Kuchan is being held, with 60 rare pieces on show, some of which have never publicly been shown before.

Located at the center of Beijing, not far from Tiananmen Square, the two-story art-trading center covers 3,700 square meters and includes different sections for displaying, trading and education.

Aside from regular exhibitions of masterpieces, forums will occasionally be held to help art lovers acquire the knowledge needed for collecting as well as learn the stories behind certain pieces of art.

Also boasting a professional art preservation area, the center will help collectors store items, as for some precious pieces the requirements of proper storage spaces are essentially high. It is the first center to offer such a preservation service for individual collectors.

(Global Times October 13, 2010)