Beijing Chengxuan auction house holds a press conference in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Courtesy of Beijing Chengxuan

 Chinese auction house Beijing Chengxuan will hold its first auction since the outbreak of COVID-19 on Thursday. The event will see more than 1,000 items go under the hammer, including Chinese paintings, contemporary art and porcelains. 

Although the deadly virus forced many auction houses to cancel their auctions or turn to online platforms, Chengxuan still managed to collect works by renowned artists such as Li Keran, Zhang Daqian and Xu Beihong, the auction house said at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday. 

In the area of modern and contemporary art, paintings by artists such as Wu Zuoren and Sun Zongwei created in 1940s have made rare appearances at auction houses. 

Ancient silver ingots wildly used in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties as well as paper money will also go up for auction.