BRUSSELS - A senior Chinese diplomat on Tuesday called for early resolution of the issues concerning the arms embargo of the European Union (EU) against China and China's market economy status.

"Arms embargo against China, along with the market economy status issue, in essence, are symbols of political prejudice and inequality," Hua Chunying, counsellor of the Department of European Affairs at China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"To further the China-EU relations, we need to build up real trust between us and get rid of the cold-war mentality," Hua said at a forum on China-EU relations titled "Europe and China: Rivals or Strategic Partners?"

China has been waiting for EU's lifting of the arms embargo for many years, she said. "We have been very patient, and we could be even more patient. But early resolution of the two issues might be a small step towards resolving many issues in China-EU relations," said Hua.

"We are living in a globalized world and China and Europe are so interdependent with each other. To further China-EU partnership is not a matter of choice but strategic necessities," she added.

Hua said early resolution of the two issues will be "a major and significant step forward towards building up the real political trust we've been longing for."

"We need to build real trust, real strategic trust between the two sides," she said.