China courts Myanmar as junta chief plans September visit to Beijing
China is courting Myanmar, a neighbour critical to India’s Act East Policy with the junta Chief Gen Min Aung Hlaing expected to visit Beijing in September, a visit that will be closely watched in New Delhi. This will be the General’s first trip to Beijing since the February 2021 coup that brought him to power. While China has been pushing various infrastructure projects in Myanmar for access to the Bay of Bengal region, it has so far been hesitant to host the General.
However, Beijing has been paying special attention to Myanmar this year and is planning to host the junta chief in September, ET has learnt. In May, Major General Yang Yang, acting director-general of the Intelligence Bureau of the Joint Staff Department of China’s Central Military Commission, met the No 2 in Myanmar’s power structure for talks on “cooperation between the two armies.” During the meeting, Soe Win reportedly proposed a resumption of the Myitsone Dam project in Kachin State. China is Myanmar's largest trading partner, buying 27% of all its goods from metals, precious stones and rare earth elements.
China bought 38% of Myanmar’s gas exports in 2022. Number of the projects funded by China in Myanmar have been stalled but Beijing remains invested with long term strategic goals. In April, China signed a power purchase agreement for hydropower plants, as well as agreements on rice, agricultural produce and fertilizer trade, with the junta-appointed ministers for electricity, agriculture, livestock and irrigation, energy, and commerce.
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