The president of Christie’s Asia, Francis Belin has worked for the global auction house since 2016. During that time he has been busy helping to modernise the auction business, a mission that has been given a further push by the challenges of the pandemic. Belin is doing so by breaking down boundaries between different geographies and different types of sale, and collaborating with rival houses. He has led Christie’s through a period of strong growth, and the company will quadruple the size of its Hong Kong gallery and sale room space when it moves into a new home in the yet-to-be-completed The Henderson development in 2023.

After starting his career at McKinsey, he had a variety of roles in the luxury industry in Asia and Europe, including as a senior vice president of Swarovski and the Japan president of Jaeger LeCoultre before he joined Christie’s.