Wang also pointed out that despite the rapid development of the art gallery business, the market is still immature and lacks order. Many art galleries in China's mainland actually play the role of art auction houses.

In 2006, Sotheby's and Christie's, the world's biggest auction houses, sold $190 million worth of contemporary Asian art works, most of which were from China's mainland. A climax for contemporary Chinese art occurred in Beijing last November, when a painting by 43-year-old Liu Xiaodong was bought by a Chinese entrepreneur for $2.7 million.

This is the highest auction price for a single work by a Chinese artist to date. It places Liu among the ranks of such famous contemporary artists as Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons.

"What is happening in China today is just like the situation in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century," said Michael Goedhuis, a collector of contemporary Asian arts who has galleries in London and New York. "A new field has been explored and a revolution has begun."

But the hot, perhaps even irrational, auction market for contemporary Chinese art works has also made people question whether the market is being manipulated, and whether those who enter the art market are speculators, instead of real collectors.

A healthy art gallery industry should put the collection and appreciation of art works at the top, and transactions of art works should be done in auction houses rather than art galleries, Wang told Beijing Review.

"Ideally, the majority of collectors should be art experts who are able to judge the value of art works, not gamblers pursuing a profit by aimlessly buying and selling over the short term," she added. "In this area, foreign art galleries are more professional and experienced than their Chinese counterparts."

Lorenz Hebling, owner of ShanghART Gallery, stressed that people need not be too concerned about the high auction prices. He believes that the high prices of contemporary Chinese art works partly reflect the fact that previous prices of those works were too low.

Hebling also blamed some local art galleries for paying too much attention to the auction record. According to him, the most important tasks of an art gallery should be to create an archive recognition for an artist, including records of former shows of his/her works, his/her personal experience and the list of his/her works, and provide as much relevant data as possible to buyers.

There are many ways to make an artist popular, but that is wasting resources, Hebling noted. "For an artist, the key is to let him/her create excellent works. If there are good works, then buyers will come."