Chinese officials say during Premier Wen Jiabao's upcoming trip to Europe, he will ask the European Union to lift its ban on weapons sales to China.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry official, Li Ruiyu, said Wednesday that Mr. Wen would repeat a long-time call for the ban to be lifted during meetings in Finland, Britain and Germany.
The restrictions were imposed following China's 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square. Beijing has long asked for the ban to be lifted.
The Chinese premier departs for Helsinki, Finland, Saturday to attend the annual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). His European tour ends September 14.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.