France to push for lifting of arms embargo, trade barriers

France will strive to have the European Union (EU) lift its "obsolete" arms embargo on China and push to ease barriers against Chinese exports during its half-year EU presidency, the French ambassador to China said yesterday.

"For my country, it is clear that the embargo is completely obsolete, that it is not fitting with the goal of building the strategic partnership between China and Europe and therefore it will have to be removed one day," French Ambassador Herve Ladsous said at a press conference in Beijing on France's National Day and two weeks after Paris took over the rotating EU presidency from Slovenia on July 1.

A number of European politicians, including former French president Jacques Chirac, have also expressed their support for lifting the 19-year-old arms embargo, saying that it does not reflect present geopolitical realities.