SHANGHAI (REUTERS) - Christie's sold nearly $20 million worth of art at its autumn auction in Shanghai on Sunday, with a painting by abstract master Zao Wou-ki fetching $6.8 million.

The combined 98.5 million yuan ($20 million) sale was 35 per cent higher than the previous year, the company said.

Zao's "24.12.2002 - Diptyque" sold for 33.6 million yuan, the most expensive work of art to be sold in Christie's Shanghai.

Zao was a Chinese-French painter, who was born in Beijing, who moved to Paris in 1948 with his wife Lan-lan, a composer. He died in 2013 at age 93.

The highest price for a Western work of art was 13.2 million yuan for Salvador Dali's sculpture "Elephant du triomphe".

"We have presented both young and established artists to an international audience and witnessed strong buying from Chinese and international clients," said Charlotte Liu, Managing Director of Christie's China.