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The world’s top auction houses are looking to the ultra-rich to defy an economic slowdown in China and boost their Asian sales, as they open new headquarters and exhibition spaces in Hong Kong and unveil an amped-up sales schedule.
全球顶级拍卖行正寄望于超级富豪来抵御中国经济放缓的影响并推动亚洲销售。目前它们在香港开设新总部和展览空间，并公布了更加积极的销售计划。
The 250-year-old auction house Christie’s will move its regional headquarters to a 50,000 sq ft site in Hong Kong’s new Henderson skyscraper in September. It hopes to increase the volume of items sold in Asia by hosting a year-round schedule of auctions there.
拥有250年历史的拍卖行佳士得(Christie’s)将于9月份将其地区总部迁至香港新的恒基兆业(Henderson)摩天大楼，办公空间共占地5万平方英尺。它希望在那里举办全年无休的拍卖活动，增加在亚洲销售的拍品数量。
Rival Sotheby’s unveiled a new retail site in the heart of Hong Kong’s business district in July, and has moved to new offices in the city. Bonhams, another of the world’s top auction houses, will open its new Hong Kong headquarters in September, while Phillips occupied a new site last year.
竞争对手苏富比(Sotheby’s)于7月份在香港商业区中心地带揭幕了一个新的零售门店，并且已经搬入了新的香港办公室。另一个世界顶级拍卖行宝龙(Bonhams)将于9月份启用其在香港的新总部，而富艺斯(Phillips)则在去年拿下了一个新的场地。
The moves come despite a slowdown in the global art market, drastically weaker luxury spending in China and dented growth prospects in the country.
尽管全球艺术市场放缓，中国奢侈品消费大幅下滑，国内增长前景受到打击，但这些拍卖行仍旧采取了上述举措。
Sales of art at Hong Kong evening sales, which refer to the most prominent auctions, fell 40 per cent by value in the first six months of this year compared with a year earlier, hitting their lowest level since 2017, according to research group ArtTactic.
根据研究机构ArtTactic的数据，今年上半年，香港晚间艺术品销售额（这指的是最重要的拍卖活动）同比下降了40%，达到自2017年以来的最低水平。
China’s economy eked out growth of 4.7 per cent in the second quarter of this year, below estimates, and has been struggling with persistently weak consumption, with some analysts cautioning this would affect the art and luxury industries.
中国经济今年第二季度勉强增长了4.7%，低于预期，并且一直面临消费持续疲软的问题，一些分析师警告称这将影响艺术和奢侈品行业。
Francis Belin, Christie’s president for Asia, disagrees. “[Overall] Luxury numbers are not great in China . . . but our aggregate numbers, I don’t think, reflect the macro,” he said, adding that clients in the region — 80 per cent of whom come from mainland China, Taiwan or Hong Kong — were concentrated at the ultra-high end, largely insulating them from any economic slowdown.
佳士得亚洲总裁庞智锋(Francis Belin)持不同意见。他说：“（总体而言）中国的奢侈品销售数字不是很好……但我认为我们的总体数字并不反映宏观经济情况。”他补充说，该地区的客户——80%来自中国大陆、台湾或香港——主要集中在高端市场，这在很大程度上使他们免受任何经济放缓的影响。
“To buy the objects that we sell, you don’t need just to have money, you need to have a lot of money . . . it’s a very small pool.”
“要购买我们出售的拍品，你不仅需要有钱，还需要很有钱……这是一个非常小的范围。”
Asians accounted for 41 per cent of buyers in the company’s luxury sales in the first half.
今年上半年，亚洲人在该公司的奢侈拍品销售额中占了41%。
The rarer objects sold by the auction house were more likely to exhibit a “de-correlation” to negative macroeconomic events, he maintained.
他坚持认为，拍卖行出售的拍品越稀有，就越有可能表现出与负面宏观经济事件的“去相关”。
“What happens in China, consumption is weak . . . [But] is a rare object a way for you to keep your money as opposed to real estate or bonds or stocks? . . . I think so.”
“在中国，消费疲软……（但）稀有物品是一种相对于房地产、债券或股票来保值的方式吗？我认为是的。”
Nonetheless, Asian buyers’ contribution to Christie’s total auction sales fell from 39 per cent in mid-2021, when the company announced its plan to move to the new site, to 21 per cent in the first six months of this year.
然而，亚洲买家对佳士得总拍卖销售额的贡献从2021年中期的39%下降到今年上半年的21%。该公司在2021年中期宣布计划迁址。
The company’s recent sales for 21st century art in Hong Kong fell short of their low estimate, while sales of 20th century art were just in line.
该公司最近在香港的21世纪艺术品销售额低于他们的低估测值，而20世纪艺术品销售额则与预期相符。
But Belin said only about half of Asian clients’ spending at Christie’s typically occurred in Hong Kong, meaning that there was still untapped demand to bring more sales to the city.
但庞智锋表示，亚洲客户在佳士得的消费通常只有约一半发生在香港，这意味着仍然存在未开发的需求，可以在这个城市创造更多的销售。
“We have consistently seen Asian collectors be more active overseas . . . than they could be actually in Hong Kong,” he said.
他说：“我们一直看到，亚洲收藏家在海外更加活跃……比他们实际在香港更活跃。”
Rival auction group Sotheby’s, which has also struggled with slowing global auction sales and job cuts in recent months, began a foray into Asian retail last month. The two-storey “maison” it opened in a mall in Hong Kong’s Central district will sell rare books, paintings and sculptures ranging from HK$5,000 (US$640) to HK$50mn.
同样在最近几个月面临全球拍卖销售放缓和裁员问题的竞争对手苏富比，则从上月开始进军亚洲零售市场。它在香港中环一家购物中心开设的两层“艺廊”(maison)将销售价格从5000港元（合640美元）到5000万港元不等的稀有书籍、绘画和雕塑。
“On the prospects of China ultra-high net worth, we see still at the very top end of the market . . . some very, very high ticket prices from Chinese collectors,” Nathan Drahi, managing director for Sotheby’s Asia, said at the opening, adding that more than a third of buyers at the company’s recent New York auctions came from Asia. “We believe in the long-term prospects . . . of that market.”
苏富比亚洲区总经理洛嘉熙(Nathan Drahi)在开幕式上表示：“关于中国超高净值人群的前景，我们看到市场的顶端……中国收藏家仍然开出一些非常非常高的票价。”他补充说，该公司近期的纽约拍卖会上有超过三分之一的买家来自亚洲。“我们相信这个市场的长期前景。”
But Meg Maggio, a Hong Kong-based art adviser and global managing director of Pearl Lam Galleries, said that while she saw underlying strength in the arts and luxury sectors, the expansion came at a “skittish” time for the market given rising geopolitical uncertainty and “fierce” competition.
但是常驻香港的艺术顾问、艺术门画廊(Pearl Lam Galleries)的全球总经理马芝安(Meg Maggio)表示，尽管她看到了艺术和奢侈品行业的潜在实力，但扩张正值市场“变幻莫测”的时期，因为地缘政治不确定性和“激烈”的竞争正在日益加剧。
“The challenge is: are there going to be too many auctions and too many auction house activities in Hong Kong? Are they saturating the market?” she asked.
她问道：“问题是，在香港会不会有太多的拍卖和拍卖行活动？它们是否会使市场饱和？”