An 18th-century imperial seal from China's Qing Dynasty on Wednesday sold for 1.68 million euros (2.23 million U.S. dollars) at a Paris auction.

The closing price for the white jade seal was about five times more than the 30,000 (398,000 dollars) to 40,000 euros (530,000 dollars) estimated by Beaussant-Lefevre, the French auctioneer.

An unidentified Asian man snapped up the seal that was sold as part of a collection of Asian art during a tense race amongst bidders at the site and on telephones.

The upper part of the seal, which has a square bottom and measures 9 cm high and 10.9 cm in length and width, was mounted with two carved dragons.

The relic had belonged to Elie Jean de Vassoigne, a French commander in China during the Second Opium War in 1860 when British and French forces looted the Summer Palace, the former home of China's Qing Dynasty emperors.

(Xinhua News Agency April , 2009)