Managing cultural assets starts with a head count

To better manage the nation's fine art storage, the Ministry of Culture has started a census of collections at all State-owned art institutions nationwide. The census will stretch until the end of 2016.

"Compared to the active trading on the art market, the State's collection of fine arts falls short in terms of investment and preservation and is neither systematically planned nor made full use of. It's mainly because we don't get an accurate picture of the national treasury," says Vice-Minister Dong Wei.

He says the survey will lead to a catalogue that includes more than 31 indexes to record each artwork and image, as well as give an idea of how the collections are distributed. It will also lay the foundation for establishing a digital database, in which the public will be able to access more artworks, and the museums can share their resources.