PARIS, April 15 (AFP) - France on Tuesday defended its "constructive approach" to dialogue with Beijing on its human rights record, justifying its decision to refrain from backing a UN resolution criticising China.

The resolution to be voted on by the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva later Tuesday "will not do any good," government spokesman Alain Lamassoure told France's National Assembly.

"Everyone has a clear conscience and yet continues to carry out commercial deals," he continued.

"For the past seven years, Chine has exercised judicial and political means to prevent the debate taking place at the UN," Lamassoure added.

He said that "to put an end to this hypocrisy," French President Jacques Chirac suggested during the Europe and Asia summit in Bangkok in March 1996 "organising a dialogue with China on human rights, not in a spirit of confrontation but in a spirit of cooperation."

In response to France's approach, China told French Defence Minister Charles Millon that it would sign the UN convention on economic, social and cultural rights before the end of the year, the spokesman underlined.

He added that the French approach was "constructive and the one which has been effective in promoting human rights.

"This approach is now adopted by a majority of the international community and France will continue down this track."

The resolution criticising Chinese human rights violations was proposed by Denmark and supported by the Netherlands among other countries.

China retaliated Tuesday by postponing all exchanges of visits with Denmark and blocking a scheduled trip to Beijing by a Dutch minister.

Denmark took the initiative in sponsoring the resolution after the French-led revolt among a number of European Union members shattered an EU consensus on the issue.

The European Union had co-sponsored a similar resolution at the commission every year since the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing in 1989, but each time China has managed to garner just enough support -- notably from developing countries -- to avoid formal censure.

The United States and 13 other countries, including nine from the European Union, have given their backing to the Danish text.

But Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan and Spain have all opted not to support the resolution this year, although they had previously criticised Beijing's tough policies.

France, like Spain, however, has not been been entirely spared from Chinese criticism, which warned the two countries, together with the United States, that a visit by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama would harm their relations with China.

The spiritual leader is scheduled to arrive in France on Wednesday, following a visit to Spain. He will then travel to the United States as part of tour which excludes any political meetings.