A painting by Wu Guanzhong [Photo/Shangguan News]

A large number of artworks by renowned artists from around the world, including Wu Guanzhong, Zhang Daqian, Marc Chagall and Edvard Munch, have undergone inspections at Shanghai Customs and will be exhibited at the fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE), which is scheduled to kick off on Nov 5.

Twelve institutions from five countries and regions including Christie's and Sotheby's will take part in the fifth CIIE and showcase 102 items with a combined value of 1.26 billion yuan ($172.37 million).

Among the items are 43 cultural relics with a combined value of 316 million yuan.

A painting by Marc Chagall [Photo/Shangguan News]

The new art exhibition area at last year's CIIE attracted wide public interest, and nine institutions successfully sold 41 artworks worth 760 million yuan at the expo.

This year, Shanghai has introduced new regulations to further facilitate the international trading of artworks, cultural relics and other collectibles.

The regulations for trading cultural relics and artworks in Shanghai Pudong New Area, which took effect on Oct 1, push forward institutional innovation by gathering resources, facilitating trading and enhancing efficiency.

For cultural relics that are purchased during the CIIE, a "six months×N" system for the temporary entrance of cultural relics will make it much easier to complete later purchases, payments, clearances and delivery processes.

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone will also take advantage of its policy benefits, professional services and facilities for trading art to provide a set of customized solutions for exhibitors, which cover clearance, logistics, bonded storage, bonded exhibition and more.

A painting by  Xu Beihong. [Photo/Shangguan News]