A JADE carving made by Chinese arts and crafts master Xue Chunmei sold for 13 million yuan (US$2.1 million) at an auction Sunday in Hall 6 of Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center.

    The carving weighs 180kg and is made of jade from Kunlun Mountain in Xinjiang. The jade was carved into the shape of a glossy ganoderma, a kind of mushroom that’s been prized in China for more than 2,000 years, largely for medicinal purposes.

    Xue, a designer at a jade research institute under a Yangzhou jade factory, has been carving jade for more than 30 years. She is China’s only female jade master, and the country’s youngest. Xue was recognized at the sixth selection of China Arts and Crafts Masters.

    At Sunday’s auction, 106 works by 82 contemporary masters sold for a total of 30 million yuan.

    In another auction, of art products from North Korea, a six-door screen made by North Korean artist Kim Sang Jic sold for 220,000 yuan, the highest price among the nearly 100 products sold at that auction.

    (Han Ximin)