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The 4th Art Beijing opens with a preview on April 26, 2009. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Xie Tingting]

With the economic slowdown heralding a bear market for contemporary art, getting a deal done is no longer the primary goal of some of the exhibitors at this year's Art Beijing Contemporary Art Fair.

The 4th annual Art Beijing which opened on Sunday, has attracted about 70 art galleries, dropping from the 90 or so last year.

"In the context of the financial crisis, many galleries didn't show up thinking no one would buy art," said Man Kaihui, representative of the 3+3 Art Space, a gallery in Beijing's 798 Art District.

"But I think an art gallery cannot just focus on business. It has to promote its artists." Man's gallery has been participating in Art Beijing for three years in a row. She thinks the fair, a major event for Chinese contemporary artists, has been a good stage to showcase her gallery.

"We still want to be here even if there are no deals to make," Man says.

In January, Art Beijing and the city government jointly launched the Art Beijing Special Fund, which offers sponsorship to exhibitors.

With the help of the fund, "galleries are able to enter Art Beijing with a low cost to promote their artists," says a press release on Art Beijing's website.

That has brought some small-sized galleries to the show.

"I've been to previous Art Beijing fairs as a visitor and know it's not cheap to be an exhibitor here," said Zhu Yu, a 22-year-old undergraduate at the Beijing Film Academy.

After applying for the fund's help however, Zhu managed to obtain a store for her half-year-old 798 Art Wall Gallery, showing photography work by herself and Li Ning, another co-founder of the gallery. "We don't have high expectations to sell art at the fair. We are here to let more people know us," Zhu said, "and we really appreciate the fund for giving us the opportunity."

A number of foreign galleries and institutes are also seeing the fair as an opportunity to help them reach a Chinese audience.

Nick Kaplony, programme coordinator of Art Quest, a London-based service provider for visual artists, says it's the first time for his organization to visit Beijing. "What we really like here is many organizations, galleries and artists in China and Beijing, whom we'll be able to perhaps work with in the future. That's the main reason for us to be here."

The Art Beijing fair is running until April 30 at the Agricultural Exhibition Center. Entrance is 50 yuan (US$7.33).