China's Wen Jiabao demands EU lift arms embargo "I have to be very frank in saying this... but the solution [to lifting the embargo] has been elusive over the past 10 years," he said, using strong, formal language in his speech to EU leaders in Brussels. I deeply regret this and I hope the EU side will take greater initiative to solve these issues. Last year a report by Baroness Ashon, Europe's foreign policy chief, warned that the embargo was "a major impediment" to developing EU-China ties. Eurozone leaders have looked to China as way out of the debt crisis, both as a trading partner and a buyer of debt. On Thursday European stockmarkets dropped as a report suggested that Chinese manufacturing contracted for the 11th month in a row. However, a news conference scheduled for the end of the summit was cancelled after the two sides failed to agree its terms. Sources said the Chinese had demanded that only officially approved journalists attend the conference. Efforts were made to smooth tensions by paying tribute to the development of relations between China and the EU since Mr Wen came to power in 2003. The EU is now China's single largest export market, while China is the EU's second largest trading partner after America. Bilateral trade has quadrupled over the nine years, with total trade soaring to a value of nearly €430bn (£344bn) in 2011. Mr Van Rompuy, who has pushed hard to develop relations with China, particularly during the debt crisis, said: "Your role has been essential in bringing us to where we are today." In a joint communique released after the summit, leaders said they "noted with satisfaction that the EU-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership had matured and become increasingly rich and multi-dimensional." Pledging to continue to make progress on a range of thorny issues from the protection of intellectual property rights to product safety issues, the two sides recognised a growing mutual dependence. The communique said the countries "were determined to continue to develop the partnership... and bring EU-China cooperation to a higher level."