BEIJING, Nov.7 (Xinhua) -- A record auction price of 79.52 million yuan (10.7 million U.S. dollars) was realized at auction for a single Chinese painting on Tuesday in Beijing.

    The Red Cliff Handscroll by the Ming Dynasty painter Qiu Ying (1494-1552) was auctioned to a private buyer from the Chinese mainland at the China Guardian Art Auction 2007 Autumn.

    "The Red Cliff Handscroll is the first Chinese painting to have been sold at more than 10 million U.S. dollars. It is a fair price for the masterpiece considering its invaluable artistic and historical worth," said Wang Yannan, president of China Guardian.

    "It marks the status of Chinese painting in the international market, which has been raised to a new level," Wang added.

    The previous record was set in spring of this year in Hong Kong, when a painting by renowned Chinese painter Xu Beihong was sold at76.32 million yuan (9.23 million dollars).

    The bidding for Qiu's masterpiece started at 40 million yuan before reaching the new record.

    Qiu, born in Taicang, in east China's Jiangsu province, was a master of the Wu School. By copying the works of earlier masters, Qiu incorporated many different techniques and a varied palette to create his popular paintings. His talent and versatility allowed him to be regarded as one of the four Great Masters of the Ming Dynasty.

    Qiu left fewer than 50 pieces of painting, most of which are in museums. He has created three pieces of Red Cliff Hand scroll, two of which are in the Liaoning Provincial Museum and Shanghai Museum.

    The piece auctioned off on Tuesday was first collected by ZhangXiuyu, one of the greatest art sponsors of the Ming Dynasty, and was last kept for more than 80 years by a entrepreneur surnamed Zhang from north China's Tianjin since the early 20th century.