China's art sales reached 169.4 billion yuan (26 billion U.S. dollars) last year, up 41 percent from 2009, according to an annual report on the art market.

The report, released by the Ministry of Culture on Friday, quoted the European Fine Art Foundation as saying that China overtook Britain last year to become the world's second biggest art and antique market, with a 23 percent share of the global art business.

The domestic art market has been increasing rapidly, making it imperative to step up legal work and carry out routine supervision on the sector, said the report.