Guardian is holding an auction of ink paintings by Zhang Daqian this spring. Although these works are "more on the simple side", their appeal can be enhanced by a different business approach, Hu says.

"We have done extensive research so we can tell clients the story behind the art work, giving the historical context and illustrating its significance in the development of Chinese contemporary traditional painting.

"We used to do nothing other than buying and selling. That kind of general business approach is no longer feasible," Hu says.

With the old sectors showing signs of fatigue, auctioneers are exploring new areas.

Poly International is offering a new category, garden furniture from the Ming and Qing dynasties (960-1911) this spring, banking on the growing number of villa owners in China.

The auction house does business in more than 30 categories, and has recently ventured into private consulting business, "to cope with all kinds of crisis", says its executive director, Zhao Xu.

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Second-tier cities that were once considered "too far away" are now being added to the sourcing itineraries of auction houses.

This year, Beijing Huachen Auctions went to the southwestern city of Chengdu and Jinan, capital of Shandong province in the east, for the first time in search of new clients and items to auction.

A close relationship with clients is more important than ever, auctioneers say.

"We have to show more initiative," says Dong Jun, general manager of Beijing Forever Auctions, Christie's brand licensee in China. "We might have backed off from dealing with some people in the past, but not now."

Beijing Forever is also considering setting up new categories, such as limited-edition luxury items and affordable modern art.

With the spring auction season just around the corner, expectations vary widely.

Ching of Sotheby's Asia says he expects "significant growth" this year, based on such factors such as new political leadership, a stronger stock market and looser credit controls from the Chinese government over the past few months.

Zhao of Poly says his company hopes to match 2012 this year, while Guardian is looking for a 10 percent increase in sales at this spring auction over last autumn's.

The smaller companies are more optimistic.

"We expect a 30 percent rise this spring from last autumn," says Dong of Beijing Forever.

AMMA director Guan Yu says: "The worse the market, the more critical the timing is for an auction house to find its legs. If you survive the worst time, you get the best of the next round."

sunyuanqing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/08/2013 page12)