Chinese contemporary art is a wide-scope concept. The world "identity", a terminology first used in the global Cultural Study Wave, refers to the perspective from which cultural characteristics of an ethnic group or a special community is analyzed. The cultural identity of Chinese contemporary art here means a fresh perspective from which Chinese culture and arts are viewed. It is necessary to discuss characteristics of Chinese culture when Chinese contemporary art has become a window through which people from the outside world get to know about China.

First, the ecosystem of Chinese contemporary art. As we all know, an intermediary art operation system is required when an artwork is turned into a cultural commodity or between creation by artists and acceptance by the society. But for many years in China this system is a uniform operation tightly controlled by the state. Except a few state-owned art museums, artists found no other places to display their creations to general public and no dealers or collectors transacted artworks as consumer products.

China's art ecosystem has undergone structural changes since the 1990s. The construction of art museums, both state-owned and private ones, has seen rapid growth, thanks to the importance attached by governments at various levels. 5 to 8 new museums will be completed in Beijing before the 2008 Olympic Games and the figure for Shanghai will reach at least 30 before the 2010 World Exposition. China is embracing an era of art museums in the 21st century. Second, art creation has become an occupation that artists can freely choose to take at their own will. We can see it from the 798 Art District in Beijing. Many studios, galleries and art organizations thrive there, forming a small ecosystem ranging from art creation to art display and transaction. Third, art market is growing in an unusually fast speed and art consumption events like gallery expositions or auction fairs have become major attractions in China. Every year at least two large-scale art expositions and no less than eight important art auction fairs take place in Beijing. For instance, the completion ceremony of New Poly Plaza, a new landmark in the eastern part of Beijing, was celebrated in the form of an art auction fair. Artworks have become new priorities of private investment in China and many believe that investing in art is the quickest way to make profits.

In this triangle structure, art museums play an important role, because they serve as the largest platform that provides cultural service to general public. And I think the museum system in USA has much experience for Chinese colleagues to draw upon from in this regard. In fact, we have had frequent discussions about how Chinese museums today should address the needs of contemporary art development and held many meetings in NAMOC discussing what we should do in the buoyant context of world contemporary art. Last year NAMOC hosted a forum for Asian museum directors which received support of Chinese Cultural Minister Mr. Sun Jiazheng and even drew interest of Premier Wen Jiabo. We believe that art museums cannot attract the audience from various circles and meet diversified needs for art unless a museum culture is developed.