Although somewhat lacking in highquality works, the auction proved itself a success, with many Chinese collectors competing to buy works within a wide range of price levels.

A white vase with molded patterns from the Jiajing period (1522-66), was expected to be sold between US$30,000 and US$50,000, but it fetched a massive US$590,000 including commission.

Bryan Chow, a famed art dealer from Hong Kong, was the winner of the vase, he had rarely attended large international auctions to buy works until this year.

In recognition of the increasing presence of Chinese buyers and the Chinese contemporary art market, The Global Art Works Collecting Forum 2009, initiated by British organization Institute for Strategic Dialogue in 2004, was held in Beijing for the fi rst time over the weekend. The internationally renown event attracted a handsome list of collectors and galleries, including Baroness Helena Kennedy QC from the British Museum, Alexandra Munroe, senior curator at the Guggenheim and Alia Al-senussi from the Tate.

"During the global recession we have seen a large decline in the art market, but we can see huge potential in the Chinese market," explained Munroe, noting that it was largely due to China's economic growth.

"We are also seeing Chinese collectors participating in the art market more enthusiastically than ever, which is essential for the healthy development of the Chinese art world," she added.

Despite the emergence of a large group of new collectors, there are still many problems to be solved in China's circle, according to Yu Ke, editor-in-chief of Contemporary Artist Magazine.

"For most Chinese collectors, buying art is no different from buying stocks, which means what they are concerned about most is money, not the value of art itself," he said. Many collectors are buying works at extraordinarily high prices, with few of them taking the real artistic value into account, Yu added.

"Such behavior is no good in establishing a healthy and sound collecting system within China," Yu explained. "Art should never be considered a money-making tool, both for artists and collectors."

He added that many Western collectors establish foundations, or donate their collections to museums as their final goal after their life-long collecting career, a mode that needs to be learned and adopted by new Chinese collectors.