Germany on Monday reiterated its position that the European Union (EU) should lift the embargo on arms sales to China.

Germany has noted the changes in China since 1989, when the 25-member bloc imposed the ban, said deputy government spokesman Thomas Steg. The German government believes that the time has come for the EU to discuss the lifting of the arms ban and seek "a new solution" to the issue.

EU foreign ministers plan to review the issue at a September meeting, demanded during the Brussels EU summit last month.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder urged the EU to remove the arms embargo when he visited China last December, making Germany the second major EU country advocating it along with France.

(Xinhua News Agency July 6, 2004)