British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett said there was still disagreement within the 25-member bloc.

"There is no consensus within the EU so it seems to me it is not an issue likely to be decided in the near future," Beckett told a British parliamentary committee.

Brussels imposed the ban in late 1980s but some nations, including France, have pushed for an end to the embargo.

Last year EU officials had worked on replacing the ban with a tightened code of conduct on arms exports to ensure weapon sales to China did not increase overall.