The European Commission will ask European Union member countries to lift the ban on the importation of Chinese processed poultry.

The decision was announced yesterday in a press release issued by the delegation of China's Minister of Commerce, Bo Xilai, who met with EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson on Tuesday.

The EU delegation has promised the resumption of normal trade between the two sides, although no date has been set. The proposal has to be approved first by representatives from all EU member states.

The ban on processed Chinese poultry was imposed by the EU in 2004, after an outbreak of bird flu in the Chinese mainland.

Bo and Mandelson held annual trade talks on Tuesday, discussing issues such as China's market economy status, the bilateral trade of textile and steel and intellectual property rights protection.