798 artist locked out over rent dispute (2)

Xu denied the posted allegations, but claimed that Sevenstar's rental income from the 798 Art District increased from hundreds of thousands of yuan in 2002 to more than a hundred million yuan last year.

Xu refused to reveal how much his annual rent is, but he did admit that in past years, he had benefited from preferential rental policies.

Since 2010, about 30 artists have left 798 Art District for Songzhuang Art Zone (SAZ), Tongzhou district, due to rising rents, Hong Feng, director of the Art Promotion Association of SAZ, told the Global Times.

Kuang Laowu, an artist who has worked in SAZ for over 10 years, said that 798 Art District could not have become well-known without these artists.

"Art is vivid only when artists stay," he said, "Sevenstar should raise the rent according to artists' financial ability."

Sevenstar did not respond to telephone calls Sunday.