The year 2017 saw more than 20 Chinese artworks fetching over 100 million yuan (15 million) at auctions.

The bulk of them were ink-brush paintings produced by 20th-century master artists, a category which collectors feel more attached to when compared to antiques and classic paintings. Also, there was a sufficient supply in the market.

Top-notch centuries-old imperial porcelains and works of ancient masters were most sought-after, as a large number of them are housed in public museums.

But the category doesn’t have a fan base as large as that of the 20th-century art. It is because one needs to be knowledgeable and discerning enough, so as to tell the difference between fakes and genuine which is quite essential to the collection of classic art.

More deep-pocketed entrepreneurs and enterprises are winning the bids. They are either collecting for their own museums, or as a way to diversify their assets.

Collectors are bidding even more discreetly. They want to spend wisely. They want the best, rather than the ordinary ones from which they find it increasingly difficult to gain short-term revenues.

Realized price low to high:

180 million yuan, a 16th-century spherical polychrome jar [Photo provided to China Daily]