In the early 1990s, Australia’s Asialink began sending artists to China on residencies. Red Gate Gallery, founded in 1991 by Australian Brian Wallace, helped these artists find accommodation and studio space and connect with Beijing’s art community. This organised form of artist mobility helped residencies take root in China’s emerging contemporary art ecosystem.

In 2001, Red Gate Gallery launched its own residency program in Beijing, building on a decade of cooperation with its Australian partners. The same year, the Chinese European Art Center (CEAC) started its program in Xiamen, drawing on its European connections. These early local programs put down deep roots — in local cultures, social resources and artistic communities — and developed forms of residency shaped by the Chinese context.

In 2013, China Residencies launched its bilingual website and went on to publish annual reports from 2014 to 2021, using both to connect residency programs, institutions and artists across China and the world.

In the meantime, the needs of Chinese artists themselves have driven homegrown experiments: Shangyuan Art Museum, now running multiple sites, and Zheng Xuewu's Hudson Art Center in the United States.

1991年，澳大利亚 Asialink 开始协调本国艺术家赴华驻留；同年成立的红门画廊（Red Gate Gallery）作为本地画廊提供协助。这些持续开展的驻留实践，为中外艺术家的跨国交流提供了新的组织形式。

2001年，红门画廊创办自己的北京驻留计划，早期延续与澳大利亚机构的合作；厦门中国欧洲艺术中心（CEAC）也于同年启动驻留项目，一面与欧洲艺术界保持密切联系，一面扎根中国东南的地方经验、社会资源和艺术生态。

通过 2013年成立的China Residencies平台，国内驻留计划开始加入世界驻留项目的开放网络，并在不同机构、艺术家和地域之间持续生长。中国艺术家自身的需求，也推动了上苑艺术馆、郑学武的哈德逊艺术中心等本土艺术家自建项目的创新。