A Paris court on Monday ruled against stopping the sale of two looted Chinese bronze sculptures which come up for auction at Christie's on Wednesday.

Under the ruling of the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris, the plaintiff, the Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe (APACE), was ordered to pay compensation to the defendant.

Ren Xiaohong, a lawyer for APACE, told Xinhua that it was "of great significance" to file the lawsuit.

"We hope to arouse public attention in Europe on the fate of numerous Chinese works stolen in the past, to help keep those relics well protected and collected," Ren said.

The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) relics, the heads of a bronze rabbit and a rat, were among an original set of 12 bronze animal heads that once adorned the imperial summer resort Yuanmingyuan. They were looted when the palace was burnt down by Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.

The pair became part of a collection of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. They have been put up for auction by his partner, Pierre Berge.

The two items are expected to fetch between 16 million and 20 million euros (US$20.8 million to US$26 million).

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

(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2009)