Some Chinese company succeeded in making an on screen finger sensor, something that Apple considered too difficult.
It's quite possible that whatever said Chinese company produced, was not exactly what Apple had in their designs. Without sources, though, this is all speculation.
There were phones that supported fingerprint identification before Apple had Touch ID, except that none of those solutions worked anywhere close as quickly, seamlessly, and securely as Touch ID. There was a fail there, just not on Apple's part.