AFTER THE HAMMER FALLS

China's art market saw record sales of works valued at 100 million yuan, but auctions continue to be hampered by bidders who fail to pay up in full, Deng Zhangyu reports.

This past year witnessed a steady increase in sales for the Chinese auction market, with the global sales volumes of art and antiques hitting $7.1 billion. However, the problem that has long plagued the market still exists: less than half of the lots sold were actually paid for by bidders.

According to the Global Chinese Art Auction Market Report 2017 issued on Thursday at an art forum held at the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, global auction sales of Chinese art and antiques rose by 7 percent, with 38 individual sales of works valued at more than 100 million yuan ($14.2m) - a new industry record. In 2011, when the Chinese art market reached its peak, the number of artworks sold valued at 100 million yuan or over stood at just 11.