Hong Kong Has Become “the Land of Promise” for Auction Houses

Newly established Hong Kong-based auction house Tiancheng International will hold a spring sale of Jewellery and Jadeite at the company’s office on May 27, and is expecting the lots to total approximately $51.6 million. Therefore the newcomer will become a competitor of Sotheby's and Christie’s which also scheduled their Hong Kong sales in May.
By the present time already a half of the world's top auction houses have approached Chinese market and have presence in Hong Kong, the Business Insider magazine reports. So, what is the reason for that?
Firstly, China's wealthiest have taken an interest in the art of their ancestors, reports BBC. And that interest has allowed China's auction houses to compete with the world's top art auctioneers, providing better understanding of the peculiarities of Chinese demand and needs. There are now art collectors in China who will pay more for the work of a Chinese artist than a Picasso.
For example, Tiancheng International will put jadeite, traditionally popular in China, on its first Spring sale, while Sotheby's will offer for Hong Kong auction French landscape paintings of 19-20 centuries. An article by Mark Zavadsky published in Expert magazine comprehensively describes how zootypic approach of Western brands operating at Asian market could lead to fail.
Auction houses Beijing Poly and China Guardian, both relatively new on the scene, have in the past five years profited immensely, and according to French auction body Conseil des Ventes, half of the world's top 20, and five of the top 10 houses are now Chinese, BBC reported.
Sotheby's 2011 sales exceeded $1 billion (HK$7.8 million) - the first time ever - an important milestone in the history of Sotheby's Asia. Meanwhile, Christie's posted earnings in Asia worth $904 million, accordingly.

Dasha Platonova, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished