Luxembourg denied Saturday reports that Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said there is no possibility of the European Union (EU) lifting its arms embargo on China during the first half of this year.

Saturday's issue of Luxemburger Wort, a German-language newspaper with the biggest circulation in Luxembourg, carried a report that Juncker had ruled out the possibility of lifting the ban during the country's EU presidency.

Briefing the press after an informal EU foreign ministers' meeting, Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said: "I called the Prime Minister about an hour ago, he said he did not say that."

Asselborn said he called the prime minister, who is in the United States, after he learned of the reports on Saturday morning.

"Our position on the issue stands as I said yesterday," he added.

On Friday, Asselborn said the EU will "continue to work" on the issue, and "good progress has been made."

"The Luxembourg Presidency will manage to find a solution," he said after EU foreign ministers spent most of Friday afternoon discussing EU ties with China.

However, he said the issue of lifting the ban is very "complex" and "it is not up to Luxembourg or European Commission alone" to resolve the issues.

An EU summit last December mandated Luxembourg to "finalize" preparations on the issue during its EU presidency to enable EU leaders to reach a decision.

Source: Xinhua