A global business thriving on people's love for art

Top auctioneer says Chinese collectors playing a pivotal role in future market

Jussi Pylkkanen thinks himself more of an aficionado and part of the cultural landscape - that connects museums, foundations and art dealers from the four corners of the earth - than the president of Christie's, one of the two biggest international auction houses.

A fan of Chinese porcelain and England glass art works, the 53-year-old Pylkkanen, auctioneer at the center of the art world's biggest sales, believes China plays a pivotal role for the global market, as the Chinese continue to show ever-growing interest in art works and the fine art auction sales in China continue their inexorable rise of recent years.