British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said she saw little prospect of the European Union lifting its arms embargo on China in the near future. [Reuters]

Britain said on Wednesday it saw little prospect of the European Union lifting its arms embargo on China in the near future.

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.

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.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in April China had to make progress on human rights before the EU would lift the ban.