Builders of a New Life (COURTESY OF WANG XIJING)

Accreditation needed

Wang believes that with the government's involvement and promotion, building an accreditation system from the ground up will be more than feasible. He suggested the government quicken the pace of art industry-related legislation.

According to Wang, the objectives of the legislation can be achieved through two steps: amending existing art industry-related laws and regulations as preparation for making credibility data available to the public, then issuing new laws specifying how these data should be accessed and used.

"The legislative work is crucial, because the collection and release of credibility data, the protection of privacy and punishment for violating the system all depend on a supportive and enforceable legal framework," said Wang. "The country must create a thorough set of laws and regulations in order to build a healthy social credit system."

Wang believes a centralized model should be adopted to manage China's art industry accreditation system. A national credibility data management center should be established as a platform through which to construct, operate and manage the national database of the credibility records of all companies and individuals engaged in the industry, while branch centers can contribute data to the national center, said Wang. He added that governmental departments in charge of art and culture should initially play a leading role in the new system, monitoring it for cases of fraud or discrepancy. Eventually, Wang hopes, it will be run in a way that generates its own economic sustainability.

Penalties must also be handed out to guarantee justice and equality within the art trade, said Wang. He believes that punishments should include blacklisting untrustworthy market players and revoking their business licenses for making them pay fines.

The government should give support to those with strong credibility records and impose restrictions on weak record-holders, with judicial punishments meted out for the violation of laws. The Internet can also be used to put unreliable market players under public scrutiny.

"Though a credibility-reporting service has been developing for only about a dozen years in China, in the West, it is a mature industry with a history of more than 100 years," said Wang, adding that establishing such a system in the former should ideally combine international expertise with country-specific adjustments.

"Indeed, constructing a credit system for the development of China's art market is a tough and complicated task. It must include different measures to perform effectively across the board," said Wang. "But China's accreditation industry has been growing along with the country's market economic system. Therefore, China is capable of building an efficient art credibility system."

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