Beijing  - A Chinese bidder who bought two controversial bronze sculptures in a Paris auction now refuses to pay for the items, which China regards a looted art.

Five days after auction house Christie's spectacular sale of the art collection of late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge, where the two lots raised China's hackles, a Chinese man revealed he was the successful bidder, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Cai Mingchao, a collection adviser for the Chinese National Treasures Fund, said he would not pay the 39.6 million dollars the Qing-dynasty rabbit and rat head fetched.

"What I want to stress is that this money cannot be paid," said Cai. "Every Chinese would have liked to do like this at that moment, and I'm honored to have the chance to make the bid," he said.

The organization works for the return of looted art to China.

"The fund faces great pressure and risks by bidding for the two sculptures, but this is an extraordinary method taken in an extraordinary situation, which successfully stopped the auction," Niu Xianfeng, the fund's deputy director, said at a press conference.

The bronzes were allegedly looted from China by British and French troops in 1860. (dpa)