As prices of art works, both traditional and contemporary, continue to rise, Chinese art museums are facing a tough situation in terms of collecting new works, their limited funding allowances placing the institutions under increasing financial pressure.

Recently the Ministry of Culture initiated a project evaluating top-priority art museums nationwide, with the issue of funding shortages taking center stage.
According to Evaluating Methods on National Top-Priority Art Museums, among the many requirements for a museum to be classed as a national top-priority art museum, 3 million yuan ($440,000) must be spent on collecting works each year.

In China, the majority of art museums are sponsored by local governments, with government subsidies their only financial resource, according to art researcher Dong Yunchuan.

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