BEIJING, China - EpaiLive, Asia's sole international online auction platform EpaiLive announces its long-term strategic cooperation with Invaluable, leading the North American provider of online auction services. This partnership has been designed to accelerate integration between China and the USA, the two largest art markets in the world, and to pool the resources of these two regions in order to fully globalise the EpaiLive and Invaluable live auction platforms.
As the first international online auction platform of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, EpaiLive has created a new mode of e-commerce which strives to make a contribution towards the steady growth of cultural and artistic exchange between China and the rest of the world. The Beijing-based EpaiLive platform spans 25 countries and receives visitors from 98 countries and regions worldwide. With close to 1,000 partner auction houses worldwide, EpaiLive is able to provide full and comprehensive auction bidding services to its client base of more than 100,000 members in China. EpaiLive's cooperation with Invaluable is expected to reinforce its leading position in the Asia Pacific marketplace and further enhance its status and influence in the international auction industry.
This important integration of resources between China and the USA represents a milestone in the global art trade industry. Invaluable works with the premier auction houses in North America and through this partnership, EpaiLive will display the catalogues of only the most high quality and reputable auction houses on its platform. This technological integration of both catalogue listings will vastly improve EpaiLive's member services and will assist North American auction houses to develop a strong buyer base in the Asia Pacific region.
Through this alliance, EpaiLive will focus on the development of the market for decorative art and antiques. Invaluable lists over US$4 billion of fine art, antiques and collectible items on its platform and will greatly aide EpaiLive as it strives to offer improved services to its members and receive increased recognition and trust from buyers in the Asia Pacific region.
EpaiLive's platform represents a mode of e-commerce which will dramatically aid the expansion of the cultural market in China. The cross-industry integration of the traditional art and auction businesses with the internet is a powerful response to the call of the State Council to, "expedite the development of foreign cultural trade" and EpaiLive is accelerating the entry of Chinese artworks (particularly Contemporary) into the international markets by its alliance with Invaluable and its unprecedented access to mature collectors market in North America.
Furthermore, this positive international alliance will bring increasingly advanced service models and systems into China and perfect the cross-country trade that EpaiLive offers its platform users. EpaiLive is continuing to modify and update its secure payment systems and provide fully comprehensive logistics and customs clearance services in order to further develop the platform's strong reputation for in the art market. Throughout the alliance, both platforms will integrate their international trade data in order to better study the market trends in both North America and the Asia Pacific region.
Figures show that China and the USA account for two thirds of global auction sales and for the fourth consecutive year, China has surpassed the USA and achieved the highest turnover of art sales at auction. These figures also show that there is a clear distinction between interests in Chinese art both in China and overseas; in international markets, modern and contemporary Chinese art accounts for 15% of the total turnover and thus provides further evidence for the significance of this global auction cooperation between EpaiLive and Invaluable.
EpaiLive's CEO Dr. QiQi Jiang said, "We are thrilled about our new strategic partnership with Invaluable as we work to create stronger ties between the auction markets of the East and West." Dr. Jiang further explained that, "China is currently the largest market for art and antiques in the world. As Asian-based buyers are showing increasing interest in the Western art market, we believe this partnership will benefit the worldwide cultural trade and further, the two-way promotion and communication of the Chinese cultural market. This new alliance of the world's two largest auction marketplaces is a huge step toward the globalisation of our online auction platform and we are excited to facilitate relationships and increase mutual understanding between our two cultures."
"We are extremely excited to establish and launch our strategic partnership with EpaiLive as we merge the two largest markets for art and auctions in the world, and expand the reach of our auction house partner's sales to Asian-based buyers. Meanwhile buyers from North America can find their loved contemporary Chinese artwork in an easier way," said Rob Weisberg, Invaluable CEO. Mr. Weisberg went on to say, "With this alliance, we are increasing the inventory available on the auction market in Asia with the vast selection of Asian arts and antiques offered by auction houses in North America that cooperate with us, while ensuring the smooth transaction between the two markets with the large-amount margin payment platform."