Dacheng Hosts Seminar Discussing Collector Wang Zhicheng’s Big-Ticket Contract Dispute

On March 13 2014, a seminar was hosted by Dacheng in its Beijing office to discuss a contract dispute that involved RMB1,000,000,000 worth of artworks owned by Wang Zhicheng, a renowned Chinese collector. The seminar was participated by: Qian Weiqing, senior partner from Dacheng; Wang Zhicheng, the collector; Liu Yulin, director of Artware Appraisal Committee of Institute of Socialist Literature and Art in China; Liu Xiong, dean of School of Cultural Relics, Peking University Resource College; Xu Qiang, director of Ancient Jade Appraisal Office of Artware Appraisal Committee, Institute of Socialist Literature and Art; Li Huibing, research fellow from the Palace Museum; and Mu Zhide, a renowned collector and cultural relics researcher.

Mr. Wang Zhicheng was represented by Mr. Qian Weiqing in trial of second instance in a contract dispute with Oceanwide Foundation. The case attracted much attention for, on the one hand, it involved a stunning 10,000 pieces of collection and RMB1,000,000,000 of compensation, and on the other hand, it revealed deeper rooted problems in the artwork collection circle, such as a poorly regulated system for cultural relics identification and appraisal in which words of the so-called “pseudo-experts” were taken too seriously. Dacheng thus convened legal experts, professional artwork appraisers and collectors to look into the underlying causes of the dispute, uncover the serious harm improper artwork identification and appraisal practices had inflicted and explore how an integrated, regulated and orderly system could be established. The participants all had this common goal of creating a pure environment for this artistic endeavor and pushing forward China’s institutional reform in the cultural relics and museum industry.

Mr. Qian Weiqing, who is also legal counsel for National Museum of China, chief counsel for and member of China Association of Collectors and a collector himself, delivered a keynote speech at the seminar which was entitled “The Future of Ancient Artwork Identification and Appraisal in China”. Citing cases of Wang Gang, a BTV anchor who mistakenly smashed a piece of collection and Jibaozhai Incident (Jibaizhai is a Hengshui-based museum housing numerous fake ancient artworks), both of which were represented by Qian, he shared his in-depth thoughts with the participating guests. He was interviewed by a number of media such as CCTV following the seminar.

Though more and more Chinese people become interested in artwork collection, recently years has witnessed the emergence of the so-called pseudo-experts who lack neither the credentials nor the ability to identify or appraise artworks yet involve themselves in all kinds of such activities. They not only pose a threat to market order and collectors’ right to reputation and property, but also lead to the loss of precious Chinese cultural relics to foreign hands. The resulting disputes, as has been mentioned above, reveal the deficiency in China’s legislative and institutional design. What’s more, despite technological advances in cultural relic identification and the rise of specialized identification institutions, conservative court judges often reject such technological evidence and misjudge cases without due respect for truth.

The seminar will not only shed light on the case itself, but will contribute to the sound development of China’s cultural relics and museum industry. It will also help explore new practice areas for Dacheng.