Chinese buyers help Christie's boost numbers

Christie's has posted a strong performance in the first half of this year, achieving sales of ￡2.4 billion ($3.68 billion), a 9 percent increase on the same period last year.

The global auction house says its bidders in the first six months came from 128 countries and regions and 10 percent were new buyers.

Asian buyers, both established and new, account for a 15 percent increase in bidding and for nearly a quarter of all sale registrations.

Christie's major sale sites globally continue to experience strong demand for art from Chinese collectors.

The bidding numbers for these collectors increased 32 percent in Hong Kong and 21 percent in London.

Christie's online services have also been well received among Chinese collectors.

In the first six months of this year, it hosted 11 online exclusive sales and now offers online auctions of Chinese art throughout July.

Also, its real-time online bidding platform attracted Chinese buyers, whose numbers increased 19 percent compared to the same period of last year.

The first foreign auction house to operate independently on the Chinese mainland, Christie's will hold its debut auction in Shanghai in September.

It will host an inaugural auction in Mumbai in December, making it the only international auction house to conduct sales in India.