Christie's on Monday declined to comment on the bidding for two looted imperial bronzes auctioned off over China's objections, following the Chinese bidder's refusal to pay his bid.

"As the principle (of an auction house), we won't disclose the information of a seller or a buyer," Christie's said in an email to Xinhua.

It also refused to disclose any possible actions to be taken after Cai Mingchao, a collection advisor of National Treasure Funds of China (NTFC), refused to pay the 31.49 million euros (39.63 million U.S. dollars) he bid for the 18th Century bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit.

According to French law, it was possible for the two bronzes tobe auctioned again.

Pierre Berge, the longtime partner of the late French designer Yves Saint Laurent, who was the owner of the two bronzes, told a French radio station that he would rather keep the pieces in case the auction failed.

Cai bid 14 million euros for each bronze by telephone at the Feb. 25 auction at Christie's.

The sculptures disappeared when the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was burned down by Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.

China has repeatedly demanded the return of the bronzes. However, Christie's held the auction after a court in Paris turned down a motion by Chinese lawyers to stop the auction.

So far, five of the 12 bronze animal heads have been returned, while the whereabouts of five others are unknown.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2009)