The Chinese ship carrying a controversial consignment of weapons for Zimbabwe is being recalled and the arms will no longer be delivered.

News agencies reported today that this was confirmed at a news conference in Beijing by the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Jiang Yu.

Reuters reported her as saying: "To my knowledge, the Chinese company has decided to recall the ship and the relevant goods bound for Zimbabwe." The vessel carrying the weapons, the An Yue Jiang, is operated by the state-owned China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO).

Earlier this week, Jiang said COSCO was considering returning the consignment "since the Zimbabwe side could not receive the goods as scheduled." The weapons were scheduled to be offloaded at the South African port of Durban and transported overland to landlocked Zimbabwe. However, a Durban court prohibited the shipment from being landed, and dockers said they would refuse to handle it.

The ship was last reported as being off the south-west coast of Africa, headed for Angola.

A transcript of Jiang's daily news briefing on the Chinese foreign ministry website records that she said on Tuesday that COSCO was contracted to deliver the weapons by another Chinese company. The consignment was "part of the normal arms trade between China and Zimbabwe," she said. "The relevant contract was signed last year and has nothing to do with the latest developments inside Zimbabwe."

She added: "I'd like to stress that the Chinese Government always adopts a prudent and responsible attitude towards arms export and one of the important principles it adheres to is non-interference in the internal affairs of recipient countries."

Jiang was asked on Tuesday about Chinese soldiers seen on the streets of Zimbabwe. She said that "several Chinese professors are teaching at Zimbabwean military schools. What you mentioned might be some teaching activities conducted by the schools."