Lilly Chan is now the international business director of Asian art, Ci Sun is now the regional business development director, and Pauline Tien is now the development director for Christie's Fine Art Storage Services.

Chan was previously a vice president at JP Morgan in Hong Kong, where she was responsible for developing growth strategies, product positioning, sales training and marketing efforts for the Asia Pacific. In her new role, she reports to Jennifer Zatorski, the global head of business and commercial management in New York, and will work alongside Jonathan Stone, the chairman and international head of Asia art. She will be responsible for the management and planning of the company's global Asian art business.

Sun used to be the managing director for wealth management and head of wealth management market in Beijing for UBS. At Christie's, she will be responsible for building long-term client relationships and implementing new business initiatives across the region. She reports to Francois Curiel, the president of Asia and will work closely with Ken Yeh, the chairman of Asia and Christie's advisory boards.

Tien managed an art exhibition program in Shanghai and Taiwan prior to joining Christie's and brings substantial luxury retail and brand management experience in the Greater China and Southeast Asia region. As Asia business development director for CFASS, she is responsible for new business and client development for the Singapore FreePort office. She reports to Joseph Stasko, the international managing director of CFASS and works closely with external industries, such as insurance, banking, and financial services, as well as colleagues from other Christie's businesses.

"As part of our long-term strategy to continally reinforce our presence in Asia, the appointments will strengthen three key areas of our activities: expertise, business development, as well as fine art storage," said Curiel in a statement. 

According to the latest annual wealth report by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch, the number of Asian high net worth individuals, or those with at least $1 million investible assets, rose to 3.3 million in 2010, while their wealth rose to $10.8 million. Spending on luxury goods has also increased. In a recent study by Christies, the company said that Asian sales of art, fine wine, jewellery and porcelain rose 68 per cent in the first half of 2011 from the previous year, to $515 million.