Chinese protective masks bound for France were rerouted to the US "on the runway" after Americans offered '"three or four times the price in cash", Gallic officials have complained, amid a high-stakes global battle for protective equipment.

Jean Rottner, head of France’s Grand Est region, the first in the country to be hard-hit by the coronavirus, ordered five million masks from China and received a batch of two million on Tuesday night.

But he told RTL that a ferocious tussle was taking place to bag the masks before they leave Chinese soil.

“It’s complicated, we’re fighting 24 hours a day,” the official, a doctor, told the radio station.

“I have a small unit in the region working around the clock with our purchasers to win markets. And it is true that on the (airport) tarmac, the Americans pull out cash and pay three or four times more for orders that we have made, so you really have to fight.”

Without saying how he managed it, he said: “I’m really happy to see this plane arrive on our soil tonight.”