The Telegraph reports on some scary facts about the Chinese art market—and mainland buyers—that have been often discussed within the art trade but rarely made publicly:
[A] survey of last year’s autumn sales from 250 Chinese auction houses found that two fifths of sales above 10m yuan (approximately £1m) had not been fully paid by April this year, according to Ou Shuying, the Association’s deputy general-secretary.
“Under Chinese regulations full settlement must be received within six months,” she told The Daily Telegraph, “so clearly the findings of survey are not satisfactory and below expectations for Chinese auction houses.” […]
“In a London auction if you stick up your hand for a lot, it’s the equivalent of signing a contract to buy the item,” explained William Hanbury-Tenison, an independent fine art agent in Shanghai, “but in China, as we all know, contracts are more fungible.” In practice, Mr Hanbury-Tenison adds, when the gavel falls on an item in a Chinese auction house, that is only the starting-point for negotiations over the final price to be paid.
Almost half of £1 million Chinese auction bids unpaid six months after they were lodged (Telegraph)
More from Art Market Monitor
Chinese Default on 40% of Annual Sales
Christie’s Makes Mainland China Move, Shanghai Auctions to Begin in Autumn 2013
Amid Bribes and Payoffs, Legitimate Chinese Art Market Hard to Measure
Native Chauvinism v. Foreign Transparency in China’s Art Market
China’s Market Contraction Frustrates Buyers
Poly Auction Standing In the Way of Reform in China’s Auction Business?
