2014 Hurun Art List released in Beijing

As the routine yearly auction season gains momentum in China, a fresh art list released by the Shanghai-based Hurun Report on Wednesday might give collectors a clue about who are the most valuable artists in the country.

The Hurun Report draws up the list by compiling figures for the total volume of those artists' works in the market last year in cooperation with artron.net, a comprehensive Chinese art website.

According to the 2014 Hurun Art List, the most expensive artist in China is 50-year-old Zeng Fanzhi, whose Last Supper broke the record by selling for 142 million yuan ($22.86 million) in Sothebys HK last year.

Beating last year's champion Zhou Chunya, who declined to third position, Zeng gathered 900 million yuan in 2013, turning him into the youngest No.1 artist on the list.

Zeng is also streets ahead of second-place artist 94-year-old Zhu Dequn, recording 280 million yuan in total for his works.

Twenty-one artists have been on the list for seven years since it was first launched in 2008. They include Zhang Xiaogang, Jin Shangyi, Fang Lijun and Yue Minjun.

The most eye-catching emerging star is 32-year-old Zhou Song. A big fan of oil painting even before he started to paint, Zhou's paintings are described as super realism. The youngest artist on the list, Zhou collected a cool 12.8 million yuan last year.