A new organization to appraise privately-owned antiques and collectables, the China Privately Collected Antique Appraisal Committee, was launched at a ceremony in the CPPCC Auditorium in Beijing on December 12 amid calls to regulate the sector more effectively.

Jia Wenzhong, secretary of the National Cultural Relics Institution of China's Cultural Relic Restoration Committee, said regulations should be produced to certify appraisers and standardize operations.

According to Yang Jingrong, director of the new organization's chinaware department, there are more than 70 million collectors in China resulting in a huge demand to appraise their collections.

The State Cultural Relics Appraisal Committee, founded in 1986, only works for state level museums and cultural relics institutions. Private collections are usually appraised by business insiders or private appraisers with no regulations to help deal with disputes.

(China.org.cn by Li Shen, December 15, 2005)