The An Yue Jiang anchored outside South Africa's Durban harbor last week.

JOHANNESBURG — A Chinese ship carrying armaments made by a Chinese state-owned company and bound for Zimbabwe has headed back to China without unloading its cargo of bullets and mortar bombs, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry confirmed at a briefing Thursday.

“The Chinese company has already decided to send the military goods back to China in the same vessel, the An Yue Jiang,” the spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, said.

The arms shipment has been a particularly contentious issue in Africa and abroad because of widespread concerns about politically-motivated violence in the wake of disputed elections in Zimbabwe last month.

On Thursday, Anglican church leaders in Britain warned about the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe and called for international mediation.