Building an Art Market in Good Credit

China’s art market has seen rapid growth since the country began its reform and openingup in the late 1970s. In 2013， China ranked as the world’s second largest art market for the second consecutive year， accounting for 24 percent of global art transaction volume. However， counterfeiting has become a problem plaguing the country’s art market.

According to Wang Xijing， member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and a council member of Chinese Artists Association， a lack of a credit reporting system has become a factor hindering China’s art market from further development. He points out that building a credit reporting system is an inevitable choice for the country’s fast-growing art market， and transactions on credit will become the mainstay of the market.

Not long ago， China Pictorial （CP） sat down with Wang to hear his thoughts on issues concerning constructing a credit reporting system for China’s art market.

CP： In your opinion， how should China build a credit reporting system for its art market？

Wang： China should accelerate its pace of credit legislation and push forward the formulation of laws concerning the art market based on the existing Regulations on the Administration of Credit Reporting Services. Building a social credit system requires not only ethical development， but also legal regulation. China should revise current laws and regulations to prepare to disclose credit data， and at the same time formulate and enact new laws to regulate the disclosure and usage of credit data.

CP： What kind of credit reporting system should China’s art market adopt？

Wang： For now， the most suitable system for the country’s art market should be centralized， with a united national credit reporting management center. The national art market credit reporting management center will gather credit data via subordinate art market credit reporting centers across the country， and then provide credit consultation services nationwide. It will be responsible for the construction， operation， and management of the personal and corporate credit database and a registration system for the country’s art market， as well as the establishment of a united art market credit platform.

After it is first established， the credit platform will likely suffer from insufficient data and lack of demand for information inquiries. For this reason， its effectiveness hinges on cultural and art authorities providing funds to build the art market credit database by gathering information about artists， prices of works， and art dealers. Cultural and art authorities should play the role of regulator of the art market to crack down on counterfeiting and price manipulation. However， China still needs to let market play the lead role in the construction and operation of its art market credit reporting system. Only in this way will the credit reporting industry achieve healthy， sustainable development.

CP： What major problems will a united art market credit reporting system solve？

Wang： The major problem it is expected to solve is the information asymmetry between various players in the art market. It will reward honesty and punish dishonesty to guarantee the justice and efficiency of China’s art market. A disciplinary mechanism must be established to ensure fair transactions in the art market： First， cultural and art authorities should formulate relevant administrative rules and penalties and regularly disclose blacklists. Second， the art market credit supervision departments should punish dishonest dealers with warnings， fines， and revocation of business licenses. Third， relevant social organizations such as industrial associations should take action to reward enterprises and individuals with good credit records while restricting the market access of those with bad credit. Fourth， we should disclose a list of those who have broken the faith via the credit reporting network， so that the discredited suffer restrictions in a wider scope. Fifth， judicial authorities should investigate civil and criminal liability of severely discredited dealers. The ultimate purpose of these measures is to reward the credited and punish the discredited.

CP： Regulating China’s art market seems like a complicated task. What suggestions do you have to build its administrative mechanism？

Wang： This will require efforts from various fields in order to reach effective comprehensive administration. One important goal is to foster the development of the country’s credit reporting industry with corporate and personal credit reporting， credit management and training， and credit management consulting services as mainstays. The government shouldn’t directly participate in credit reporting services， but focus on creating a favorable environment for the establishment of the art market credit system via administrative supervision.