HONG KONG—Could the renowned Sigg Collection be destined for Shenzhen, the Southern China boomtown on the Hong Kong border? For weeks rumors have been circulating that Uli Sigg, one of the world’s most important patrons of contemporary Chinese art, would donate his extensive collection to the Shenzhen government, which is currently planning a new museum that they say will be one of the largest in the world.

Sigg, the former Swiss ambassador to Beijing and an international champion of Chinese contemporary art, who has not commented directly on whether he will donate his collection, has confirmed continuing talks with Shenzhen officials.

He told ArtZineChina.com, a major Chinese art website: “I was contacted by representatives of the new Shenzhen museum to be built by the Shenzhen municipality, which will indeed be huge. They were interested in presenting my collection of Western art and a longterm cooperation in that field and advice in general. I indicated to them that I am open to discuss these issues. In the context of this meeting, they realized the depth and extent of my collection of Chinese contemporary art, which they had not been aware of. As a consequence, they expressed strong interest to present parts of my collection in their opening show. This is where we are.”

Sigg also reiterated his desire for the Chinese people to be able to see his collection, which has been shown in Europe and is making its first major U.S. appearance this fall at the University of California at Berkeley Art Museum. He said: “I have repeatedly expressed in public my readiness to bring my collection back one day to China — ideally to a prime institution which will be able to draw a large audience, so as to enable the Chinese to get to know their own contemporary art, which they presently do not.” Shenzhen, a rough but prosperous industrial city not recognized for its art programming, was apparently the first government cultural institution to approach him. No timeline or budget has been announced for the new museum.

Sigg, who started his career in Swiss media and now serves on the boards of several Chinese and multinational corporations, began assembling his collection in the mid-1980s and currently serves on the international advisory boards of London’s Tate Gallery and New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Comprising more than 2,000 Chinese videos, photographs, paintings, and installation artworks created from the 1970s onwards, many of which have political themes, the collection includes work by more than 250 artists, including such important names as Zhang Huan, Ai Weiwei, Yue Minjun, and Xu Bing.

The Berkeley exhibition, “Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection,” is a 141-piece version of a similar show that has toured Switzerland, Germany, and Austria in recent years. It will be on view September 10 to January 4.