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Brussels (dpa) - This weeks summit between Chinese and European Union leaders, including Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, will go ahead without a press conference due to restrictions imposed by Beijing, it was announced Wednesday.

Demands from Beijing would have only enabled 15 European journalists to attend a press conference, granting them two questions overall, said a spokeswoman for the international press association.

"We would very much liked to have a press conference," said European Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde, adding that it had been "simply not possible" to agree on the required conditions.

It is not the first time that the media were kept at arms length. At a China-EU summit in February, no press conference took place, and in 2010 it was cancelled at the last minute due to the presence of exiled Chinese citizens and reporters critical of Beijing.

Thursdays summit will be the last for outgoing premier Wen, who is due to be replaced in a leadership change later this year.

Among others, he will meet European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, in an aim to "deepen the relationship" between China and the EU, rather than reach big decisions.

The EU is Chinas largest export market, but a series of trade spats have tested nerves - most recently when the European Commission launched a probe this month on suspicion that Chinese solar panels were undercutting EU prices.

Among the few "difficult issues," the EU is due to address human rights in China, as well as the rising tensions and protests over a territorial dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea, an EU diplomat said.

While the EU has no official position on the dispute, it is to call on the Chinese authorities to work in a way that "calms the situation down and channels energy into constructive dialogue," the diplomat said, stressing the importance of stability in the region.

The leaders were also due to discuss the situation in Syria and the differing perspectives of the EU and of China, one of the few allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. dpa hm mat Author: Helen Maguire

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REFILE Chinese conditions block press conference at EU-China summit Eds: Amends missing word in intro