Chinese artist Yuan Ye has launched an initial public offering with a total size of HK$250,000 in Singapore.

Chinese artist Yuan Ye has launched an initial public offering in Hong Kong with a total size of HK$250,000 ($32,250) in a sign that art is, indeed, an evolving avenue for investment in the region.

Yuan Ye made the news recently after his first solo exhibition at the Singapore art gallery's Dominic Khoo's 28th Fevrier, with 28 paintings, sold out. With the help of The Chinese Cultural and Arts Property Exchange, the artist announced the IPO of 25 million shares, with an expected price of HK$1 per share. Ye's value increased dramatically after some of his works were chosen for a set of commemorative stamps by the government. 

His work is already being traded on the Hong Kong stock exchange at a value of around RMB30,000 per square feet. According to a statement, the owner of Yuan Ye #2, one of the featured paintings from the Dominic Khoo event, now has a traded value of RMB465,000 on the exchange, representing a 780 per cent gain in only one month. 

While by global standards the Chinese art market is still small, the rise in the number of the country's wealthy is helping push the prices on everything related to art higher the more it is seen as an investment. For one, global auction house, Christie's reports that nearly $1 billion of sales in Asia in 2013, with an expanding appetite for Asian 20th century and contemporary art, Chinese modern and classical paintings, jewellery and others.