Uli Sigg, Swiss entrepreneur, diplomat, and collector, is widely recognized as one of the leading patrons of contemporary Chinese art. His engagement with China began in the late 1970s, initially as a businessman establishing the first foreign-invested enterprise in China, before serving as the Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation to China, Mongolia, and North Korea in the 1990s. During this period, Sigg built strong connections with the young artists of the emerging Chinese avant-garde, collecting their works at a time when contemporary Chinese art had yet to receive local and global recognition. In addition, he played a key part in fostering critical discourse on contemporary art by establishing the Chinese Contemporary Art Awards (CCAA, since 2019 SIGG PRIZE) in 1997 and the CCAA Art Critic Award in 2007, both of which continue to shape the field today. His efforts not only fostered and safeguarded works of China’s artistic transformation but also provided the foundation for scholarly research and institutional engagement with contemporary Chinese art, in China and globally. In 2012, Sigg made a landmark donation of over 1,400 works from his collection to M+, the leading museum for contemporary visual culture in Hong Kong (designed by Herzog & de Meuron, opened 2021). This donation remains the most comprehensive collection of contemporary Chinese art in existence and serves as an important resource for understanding China’s artistic developments since the late 20th century. Uli Sigg remains actively engaged with Chinese art to this day.