The EU is aiming to lift its 15-year-old arms embargo to China by the end of June, the organization's Council of Ministers said on Saturday.

Nicolas Kerlerous, spokesperson for external relations, security and defense policy, told Xinhua that the EU "has an objective to lift the embargo during the first half of next year" but warned that achieving this "can never be guaranteed."

Kerlerous' comment confirms the implications of a concluding document from the EU leaders' summit, which ended on Friday.

The document said they "invited the next Presidency (Luxembourg) to finalize the well-balanced work in order to allow for a decision (on revising the EU's Code of Conduct on arms exports)." Luxembourg's presidency runs from January 1 to June 30 2005.

"This is a strong indication (of the EU's intention to work towards lifting the embargo)... And it further proves the 'positive signal' on the arms embargo the EU expressed during the EU-China summit in The Hague," Kerlerous said.

During the leaders summit, they stressed that the lifting of the arms ban should not result in an increase, either quantitative or qualitative, in weapons sales to China.

The leaders also stressed the importance of the EU Code of Conduct on arms exports, in particular, "criteria regarding human rights, stability and security in the region and the national security of friendly and allied countries."

Premier Wen Jiabao said earlier in December that China's appeal for lifting the arms embargo did not mean it was eager to buy weapons from EU countries. Wen claimed the ban discriminates against a strategic partnership based on the principles of mutual respect, equality and reciprocity.

(China Daily December 20, 2004)