Lawyers to continue efforts to take Chinese relics back

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The two relics, the heads of a bronze rabbit and a rat, were looted from the imperial summer resort Yuanmingyuan.

A Paris court rejected a bid to block the sale of two bronze  sculptures looted from China that are to be auctioned with  the art collection of the late fashion designer Yves Saint  Laurent, a court official said on Monday, the Reuters  reported.(Xinhua Photo)

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

Liu Yang represents the group of 80 Chinese lawyers that filed the case. Despite the ruling, he says they've achieved a moral victory.

Chinese lawyer Liu Yang said, "Though we didn't get a just judgment, they will be more cautious next time when dealing with such cases. We have issued notices to warn the potential buyers not to bid for the auction. Our next step is to see if the auction on the 25th fails. If it doesn't fail, we'll track down the buyer, and get his name and address. We'll file a case again. The buyer, Berge, and Christie's will be jointly defendants. Because the buyer ignored our serious caution and sincere informing, his behavior is malicious. The buyer will be another defendant."

The two bronze animal heads are expected to sell for up to 10 million euros each. Christie's plans to put them up for auction on Wednesday.

Editor:Zhang Ning