An amendment backed by rebel Conservative Party MPs and opposition lawmakers failed to pass through the UK parliament's lower chamber on Monday.
The 'genocide amendment' was defeated by 318 votes to 300 [Getty]
A bid by UK lawmakers to block trade deals with countries guilty of genocide was defeated in parliament on Monday evening.
The proposal, dubbed the 'genocide amendment', aimed to block trade with China, which is accused of committing genocide against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province.
Accusations of genocide would be overseen by a new parliamentary judicial committee, which would review allegations on a case-by-case basis.
The amendment to the government's Trade Bill was defeated by 318 votes to 300 in the House of Commons.
Former minister Ian Duncan Smith was among the group of some 29 Conservative Party rebels who backed the amendment.
He said the law would "send a message … that we simply won’t put up with this, we're not frightened of finding that this is genocide and we’re not frightened of saying it from the steeple-tops".
Across the floor, Shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry appealed for MPs to "vote with their conscience".
"Should Britain be willing to sign trade deals with governments which are engaging in torture, mass detention, slave labour, organ harvesting and non-judicial executions - not on an isolated basis, but on an industrial scale against the Uighur population in Xinjiang?" Thornberry asked.
Speaking for the government, Trade Minister Greg Hands said that the creation of a parliamentary judicial committee would "destabilise the balance of powers between parliament and judiciary, whilst not actually helping those suffering at the hands of the Chinese authorities".
The vote on Monday evening came after the UK slapped sanctions on four Chinese officials over "industrial-scale abuses" against the Uighur minority. The move was in concert with similar actions by the US, EU and Canada.