The British abstract painter's works are now on display in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Over the past 14 years, Dodd has visited China some eight times a year. He says the country has reinvented itself enormously with its interest in arts and culture, especially in recent times.

"It's very smart of China to do arts and culture, develop its own brand and to change its educational programs," he says of the country's attempt to transform itself from the world's factory to a center of art and design.

Dodd notes China's growth in museums, too. His company is an adviser on a design museum in Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong province that is being constructed based on a partnership between the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and Chinese State-owned developer China Merchants Group.

"V & A is coming to Shenzhen, and there are rumors that Pompidou will come to Shanghai. But I think it is equally important that China is taking its own culture to the world."

He says China may be closer to the US model than European when it comes to building museums.