Contemporary Chinese art is fast taking its place on the world stage as a worthwhile investment and Hong Kong has established itself as a focal point in the Chinese contemporary art trade, rivalled only by Beijing. The situation in Macau is less clear-cut, Macau Business reports in its June issue.

Macau’s main potential market for art-sellers is risk-taking punters, not connoisseurs, experts note.

Art Market Monitor’s Mr Marion Maneker says: “Opening art galleries in casinos is appropriate because buying any work of art is taking a gamble that it won’t lose its value entirely. Art being a luxury good, it is best bought with the kind of ‘free money’ gamblers feel their winnings are.”

While some of the upmarket hotel-casinos, including MGM Macau and the Venetian Macao, have attempted initiatives involving art galleries, Macau simply does not have the commercial infrastructure of its neighbouring SAR, Mr Maneker explains.

“Hong Kong’s role in the regional and international art market is due to more than just the fact that it has a few galleries. The city has created laws that make it advantageous to buy, sell and store art in Hong Kong.”

Read the full version of this article in the June issue of Macau Business magazine, now available at selected newsstand outlets in Macau, Hong Kong bookshops, by subscription and at partner hotels, restaurants, airlines and ferry carriers in Macau.