Christie's will hold its first sale in mainland China this autumn and become the first international auction company to be allowed to operate independently in the country, marking a turn in its tumultuous relationship with China. 佳士得(Christie's)将于今年秋季举行中国内地首场拍卖，成为第一家获准在中国独立开展经营活动的国际拍卖公司。这标志着佳士得与中国之间历经波折的关系出现转折。
China's art auction market has boomed in recent years to become the world's largest, according to market-tracking company Artprice PRC. But until recently, Chinese authorities had refused to allow Christie's and its rival Sotheby's to hold sales on the mainland even as trade grew in neighboring Hong Kong. Local competitors such as Beijing Poly International Auction Co. and China Guardian Auctions Co. have increasingly dominated the Chinese market. Christie's佳士得不可交易产于1911年前的中国文物，如这件将在香港进行拍卖的花瓶。市场研究公司Artprice的数据显示，经过近几年的繁荣发展，中国的艺术品拍卖市场已经成为世界最大。然而在此之前，虽然佳士得和竞争对手苏富比(Sotheby's)的香港生意日益红火，但中国有关部门一直不让它们在内地举行拍卖活动。北京保利国际拍卖公司(Beijing Poly International Auction Co.)和中国嘉德国际拍卖有限公司(China Guardian Auctions Co.)等本地竞争对手越来越明显地主导了内地市场。
Christie's said it would hold its first sale in Shanghai and plans to be based in that city to cater to its growing ranks of Chinese clients. The announcement suggests the Chinese government has further eased market restrictions, opening the door for the 247-year-old auction company owned by French billionaire François Pinault to operate in the country without a local partner. 佳士得透露内地首拍将在上海举行，并计划以上海为基地来服务于日益庞大的中国客户群体。这一消息意味着中国政府已经进一步放开市场，从而使法国富豪弗朗索瓦•皮诺(Francois Pinault)拥有的这家247年老字号拍卖公司能够在中国独立运营，而不需要跟本地公司合作。
'We've been dreaming about selling in China for many years,' said François Curiel, president of Christie's Asia. He added that the company's campaign for a license, which was granted on March 29, began three years ago and involved numerous presentations and discussions with local authorities, in which Christie's pitched itself as a cultural clubhouse where collectors could socialize as well as shop. 佳士得亚洲区总裁高逸龙(Francois Curiel)说：多年来我们一直梦想着要在中国内地举行拍卖会。他还说，公司的经营执照是在3月29日获批的，执照的申请始于三年前，期间公司同地方有关部门做了多次情况介绍、举行了多次会谈。在这些交流中，佳士得将自己描述为一个供收藏家相互联络、选购藏品的文化会所。
Christie's Chief Executive Steven Murphy said the company pursued leads in Shanghai and Beijing but ultimately chose Shanghai because the city is about to open a spate of high-profile museums that will likely attract audiences from across Asia. Shanghai also has a surfeit of wealthy bankers who already collect art. 佳士得首席执行长史蒂文•墨菲(Steven Murphy)说，公司考察了上海和北京市场，最后选择上海的原因是这座城市即将开设一系列知名度很高的博物馆，可能会吸引亚洲各国的人士前来参观。上海还有很多身价不菲的银行家，他们已经在收藏艺术品。
Christie's said it plans to sell all kinds of art in Shanghai, from Old Master paintings to jewelry to locally sourced Asian art. It also plans to roll out a regular calendar of sales throughout the year in Shanghai─a departure from its strategy in Hong Kong, where it conducts twice-a-year, marathon events featuring sales of Asian art, antiques, wine and jewelry. 佳士得说，它计划在上海拍卖各种类型的艺术品，既有早期绘画大师的作品，也有珠宝和来自亚洲本地的艺术品。它还打算将上海的拍卖活动分布于全年定期举行，而不是像在香港那样，每年两次地举行以亚洲艺术、古董、葡萄酒和珠宝为主打的漫长拍卖活动。
But the new license has restrictions that the local houses aren't subject to. Christie's isn't allowed to trade so-called cultural relics─items that predate 1911 and are deemed vital to the country's heritage by the Chinese government. That means Christie's won't be able to sell classical paintings and antiques that have traditionally been the most valuable collectibles among Chinese buyers. 但新的执照也附加了一些本土拍卖行所没有的限制措施。佳士得不可交易“文物”，即产于1911年前、被中国政府视为国粹的物品。这意味着佳士得不可拍卖古典绘画作品和古董，而这些恰恰是一直以来最受中国藏家重视的藏品。
For the past eight years, Christie's has been limited in China to a licensing deal with Forever International Auction Co. But Mr. Curiel said Christie's would rather go on its own, even if independence meant restrictions on what it can sell. Christie's said it intends to end its relationship with Forever in September. 回顾在过去八年，佳士得在中国只跟北京永乐国际拍卖有限公司(Forever International Auction Co.)达成了一笔授权协议。但高逸龙说，佳士得更愿意单独行动，哪怕这意味着拍卖内容将受限制。佳士得说，它打算在今年9月份终止与永乐公司的合作关系。
'The purpose is not only to sell in China but to familiarize mainland collectors with us,' he said. 'Many of them don't know us. In other centers, like New York and London, everybody knows us.' 高逸龙说，佳士得的目的不仅仅是在内地举行拍卖会，还要与内地藏家相互认识。他说：很多内地藏家都不知道我们，而在纽约、伦敦等其他收藏中心，人人都知道我们。
Mr. Curiel said Christie's would apply later for a license to deal cultural relics, but he didn't specify when. 高逸龙说，今后佳士得将申请拍卖文物的执照。但他没有透露具体什么时候申请。
Christie's follows its rival Sotheby's, which last year opened a joint venture called Sotheby's (Beijing) Auction Co. with Gehua, a state-owned media and entertainment company based in Beijing. But unlike the Sotheby's joint venture, in which Sotheby's owns an 80% stake, the new Christie's license marks the first time a foreign-owned house will be allowed to operate without a local partner. 在佳士得获得执照之前，竞争对手苏富比已经在去年同总部设在北京的国有媒体娱乐企业歌华(Gehua)一起成立了一家名叫苏富比(北京)拍卖有限公司(Sotheby's (Beijing) Auction Co.)的合资企业，并持有80%的股份。但佳士得跟苏富比的合资公司不一样，它的新执照标志着外资拍卖行首次获准在没有本土伙伴的情况下开展经营活动。
Christie's sold $705.4 million of art, jewelry, antiques and wine in Hong Kong last year, a 49% increase from 2007, the company said, with a significant portion of those items going to mainland Chinese collectors. It has operated in Hong Kong since 1986. 佳士得说，去年它在香港拍卖了7.054亿美元的艺术品、珠宝、古董和葡萄酒，较2007年增长49%，其中很大一部分都被中国内地藏家获得。佳士得在香港的经营活动始于1986年。
Barriers in China began to fall last September when Sotheby's opened up its Beijing auction house with Gehua. Sotheby's, which held one sale in China, said it plans to hold more auctions on the mainland later this year. 去年9月苏富比同歌华成立北京合资拍卖公司的时候，中国市场的壁垒开始被移除。苏富比已经在中国举行了一次拍卖，它表示今年晚些时候准备在内地举行更多拍卖活动。
While Christie's has benefited greatly in recent years with the boom in the Chinese art market, it was embroiled in a spat in 2009 with China's government over the sale of two bronze sculptures that were taken from the Summer Palace by foreign armies during the Second Opium War in 1860. 虽然佳士得在近几年极大地获益于中国艺术品市场的繁荣，但2009年因为两座铜像的拍卖，它与中国政府出现摩擦。这两座铜像是1860年第二次鸦片战争期间外国军队从颐和园拿走的。
