Last month, Mr. Yang arrived at a Beijing luxury hotel and made his way into the packed salesroom of Poly, China's biggest auction house.

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China is expected to put up 17 shale gas blocks for auction in the coming weeks in a bid to develop a robust shale gas industry.

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"We implement our international obligations to protect endangered wild animals, and we have always honoured our international obligations, " China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters as the auction opened.

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The return is a clever move by Mr. Pinault, who recently won the honor of seeing Christie's become the only foreign auction house allowed to set up a wholly owned business in China.

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The painting came up for auction in New York with three very active bidders: one from Russia, one from China and one from the Middle East.

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But international auction firms like Sotheby's and Christie's until now have been restricted from holding sales within China.

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