Bank of China’s plan to buy a stake in a French private bank has collapsed after it tried to renegotiate the purchase price on the orders of the Chinese government.

La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild refused to sell a 20 per cent stake to the Chinese lender at a lower price than the €236m ($317m) it agreed with BoC amid much fanfare in September, the French company said Thursday.