A Chinese official confirmed on Monday that Colonel Gaddafi’s regime sent representatives to China to discuss buying weapons from arms companies long after the imposition of UN sanctions but said the Chinese government was unaware of the visit at the time, writes Jamil Anderlini in Beijing.

Jiang Yu, the official, also stressed that no contracts were signed and no arms shipments were made.

“The Gaddafi regime sent representatives to China in July to meet individuals from relevant Chinese companies without the knowledge of Chinese government departments,” Ms Jiang said. “Chinese companies did not sign any military trade contracts with the Libyan side and certainly did not export any weapons to the Libyan side.”

All Chinese weapons manufacturers are state-owned making it hard for Beijing to argue that no part of the government was aware of the visit.

The revelation that Chinese companies discussed selling weapons to the tottering regime as late as July, in contravention of UN resolutions, is hugely embarrassing for Beijing, which is already struggling to improve relations with the victorious rebels.