SHANGHAI (AFP) ― International auction house Christie’s on Tuesday expressed hopes for greater openness in China’s growing art markets before its first auction on the country’s mainland.

“We’re happy to operate here without the freedom to sell cultural relics, and when that changes we’ll change with it,” Christie’s International chief executive Steven Murphy told a press conference.

He was referring to current rules barring foreign auction firms from selling cultural relics dated earlier than 1949.

“We’re patient and we’re respectful,” he added, two days before the firm’s first auction in mainland China, to be held in the commercial capital Shanghai.

“We’re hopeful that will open up at some point.”

The firm said in April it became the first international auction house authorized to operate in mainland China without a local partner.

Christie’s, which has long operated in Hong Kong, had been organizing sales in China since 2005 by authorizing a Chinese auction firm to use its international trademark, due to strict regulations on setting up a solely-foreign invested auction house.

“Being here in China, which is a vital part of the world, is essential,” Murphy said.

Murphy’s remarks came as Christie’s unveiled a three-day exhibition of items, ranging from Asian contemporary art to Western masterworks and jewelry, ahead of an auction Thursday evening.