Christie’s, the global auction house, has officially opened its new exhibition space and office in Shanghai, highlighting expansion in China of the market for fine art and other collectibles.

Christie’s, the global auction house, has officially opened its new exhibition space and office in Shanghai, highlighting expansion in China of the market for fine art and other collectibles.

The opening ceremony witnessed the performance of a creation of work by artist Qin Feng, who laid down a 15 meter by 30 metre work, Landscape of Desire. This work, executed in black acrylic painted on canvas, literally and artistically connects the space between the Peninsula Hotel the location of Christie’s Shanghai exhibitions and auctions this week, and the new Christie’s office at the Ampire Building.

“China now plays a hugely important role in the global art market. Nearly one third of all buyers are from Asia and in the last year, 20 per cent of all new clients to Christie’s globally came from Greater China. We continue to lead the art world in our dedication to be an advocate for Asian art and culture on the global stage. During the last year, we have staged over 73 public exhibitions of Asian and Chinese art across the world. And today, we witnessed a wonderful artist, Qin Feng (born 1961), creating a work in a unique project that shows art itself is at the heart of what we do,” Steven Murphy, chief executive, Christie’s said.

Qin Feng, born in Xinjiang, graduated from the Shangdong Art Institute in 1985. He returned to Beijing from a period in Berlin in 2006 to teach and serve as graduate advisor at the Central Academy for Fine Arts. In 2008 Qin Feng became a research associate at the Fairbank Centre for Chinese Studies at Harvard University. His works are collected by the British Museum, London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Separately, in Hong Kong and one year on from Christie’s first sale in the city, three auction sales will take place Friday 24 October at the Peninsula Hotel opposite the new Christie’s building. The sales include the new Chinese Contemporary Design category featuring a series of works inspired by 5,000 years of Chinese culture, Christie’s said.

In July this year Christie said it logged global sales of £2.69 billion ($4.47 billion), up 12 per cent, for the first half of 2014, from the same period a year earlier. The auction house said "digital engagement and new buyers coming to the market have continued to drive growth; new clients represented 24 per cent of all buyers and 15 per cent of the sales total in the first half of 2014". Auction sales increased 13 per cent on the same period last year to £2.2 billion ($3.6 billion), up 23 per cent.  Rival Sotheby's said at that time that its Asia business reported first-half 2014 sales of HK3.82 billion ($490 million), up almost by half (47 per cent) on the same period in 2013.