Shanghai PFTZ International Culture Investment and Development Co (FTZART) signed a cooperation agreement with the ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair (ART021) on March 25 to build a year-round artwork exhibition and trade platform known as "FTZART+ART021·365".

At the signing ceremony, organizers of the eighth ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair also announced that FTZART would be in charge of the customs declaration and transport coordination for all artworks at this year's fair, which will be held at Shanghai Exhibition Center from Nov 12 to 15.

The FTZART+ART021·365 platform will make full use of preferential policies and trade facilitation measures in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone to provide year-round exhibition and trade services for international art institutions, galleries, and collectors, and help relevant institutions set up offices in China.

An international artwork free trade service center and an international artwork trade center are expected to officially start operating in the zone in the second half of this year, both of which will play a significant role in promoting the platform's development.

The two centers, covering a total area of 68,000 square meters, received nearly 1.2 billion yuan ($169.2 million) in investment and currently make up the world's largest artwork free trade complex in terms of size. The building also boasts the highest possible international safety standards.

Over the past few years, the FTZART has formed a "1+5" culture industrial structure consisting of an international artwork free trade service platform, international artwork trade center, copyright service center, international artwork free trade service center, cultural IP operation center and an artwork appraisal center.

"As a state-owned enterprise which serves the entire art industrial chain, and the operator of the National Base for International Culture Trade (Shanghai), the company has been fulfilling its social responsibilities during the COVID-19 outbreak by strictly implementing the local government's preferential policies and helping reduce losses by exhibitors at ART021," said Jiang Mingwei, general manager of FTZART.

The company has also worked out a plan to optimize services for Shanghai-based cultural businesses, including streamlining entrance and exit procedures for artworks, reducing the processing time needed for the approval of free trade exhibitions, and developing an intelligent remote examination system for artworks.

The fourth edition of The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report revealed that China remained the third largest art market by value in 2019. However, the current number of artwork imports and exports has shrunk significantly due to the ongoing pandemic.

Industrial insiders believe that under such circumstances, cooperation between FTZART and ART021 will form a new industrial model in the art market and help boost international culture and art exchange.