The European Union (EU) has not changed its position on lifting the arms embargo against China, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Wednesday in Brussels.

"The position of the EU remains the same," Solana said here at the end of an EU summit.

As for reports that the bloc has decided to postpone the lifting of the arms ban, Solana said EU leaders had not discussed such issue on any occasion.

"The EU continues to work on the discussion of the Code of Conduct (on the EU's arms export)," he said, referring to measures the EU wants to beef up in parallel to a lifting of the 15-year-old embargo.

Solana added that it is "too early to say" whether the EU would lift the embargo under its current Luxembourg presidency, which ends in June.

He said the EU would "comply with" the resolution passed at an EU summit last December, which requested the Luxembourg presidency to "finalize" preparations for EU leaders to make a decision on the issue, hinting a timetable for the lifting.

The EU, keen to boost trade and diplomatic ties with China, agreed in principle last December to lift the ban, imposed in 1989, by the end of June. The United States is bitterly opposed to the plan, saying it would affect the balance of power across the Taiwan Straits.

Earlier, some western media reported that due to mounting pressure from the United States, the EU put off plans to lift the arms embargo and may not press the issue until next year.

On March 6, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said the EU's arms embargo on China is "obsolete, useless and harmful," and does not comply with the all-round strategic partnership of cooperation between the two sides.

China adheres to the road of peace and development and does not need to buy a lot of advanced weaponry from the EU, he told a press conference during an annual session of the country's top legislature in Beijing.

EU still has "political will" to lift China arms embargo

The European Union (EU) still has a "political will" to lift the arms embargo against China despite obstructions from the United States and some member countries, a spokesman on foreign and security policy of the EU Council said Wednesday.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Nicolas Kerleroux said, "I personally believe the discussion on the lifting becomes complicated," as some EU members had raised the situation across the Taiwan Straits and the objection from Washington.

However, he said the EU had not yet made a "collective" decision on the issue and its "political will" to lift the arms embargo remains unchanged.

Kerleroux said the EU would continue conducting "strategic dialogue" with the US on the lifting, although the US had not softened its position after the bloc sent a delegation to Washington last week.

Francoise Le Bail, chief spokesperson of the European Commission, also told Xinhua that the lifting of the embargo in the near future would be "very difficult" due to interference from the US.

But she noted that it is up to EU member states to make the decision.

Earlier in the day, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said at the end of an EU summit that the bloc has not changed its position on lifting the arms embargo.

The EU, keen to boost trade and diplomatic ties with China, agreed in principle last December to lift the ban, imposed in 1989,by the end of June. The United States is bitterly opposed to the plan, saying it would affect the balance of power across the Taiwan Straits.

On March 6, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said the EU's arms embargo on China is "obsolete, useless and harmful," and does not comply with the all-round strategic partnership of cooperation between the two sides.

China adheres to the road of peace and development and does not need to buy a lot of advanced weaponry from the EU, he told a press conference during an annual session of the country's top legislature in Beijing.