Foreign and Military Affairs

Sino-Myanmar ties renewed

By Zhang Chunyan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-09 07:21

BEIJING - China and Myanmar are willing to increase their economic and trade cooperation, President Hu Jintao and Myanmar's top leader, Than Shwe, said during their meeting on Wednesday.

"China pays a great deal of attention to relations with Myanmar," Hu told Than Shwe, chairman of Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council.

President Hu Jintao and Myanmar's leader Than Shwe attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday. [Photo by Liu Jin / Agence France-Press]

"Consolidating and developing Sino-Myanmar cooperation and friendship is our unswerving policy. However the international situation might change, this policy will not alter," Hu added.

China is willing to increase imports from Myanmar and welcomes the country's enterprises expanding investment in Chinese markets, Hu said.

Hu said China and Myanmar must work hard on energy, electric power and other projects, which would benefit people of both countries.

China's position on climate change and other major issues fully reflects the broad interests and concerns of developing countries, Than Shwe said.

He told Hu that his government was committed to ensuring stability on the border as part of a "long-term policy" of protecting its friendship with China.

China's top legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao will meet with Than Shwe on Thursday.

"China and Myanmar are friendly neighbors and this year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on Tuesday.

When asked about Myanmar's upcoming election, planned for Nov 7, the first in two decades, Jiang noted the election was Myanmar's internal affair.

Song Qingrun, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told China Daily on Wednesday that China and other Asian countries all hope Myanmar's election proceeds smoothly, which will be beneficial to peace and stability in the region.

Than Shwe is scheduled to visit the 2010 Shanghai Expo and the manufacturing hub of Shenzhen in Guangdong province before he departs on Saturday.

Song noted that Than Shwe hopes to learn from the successful experiences of China's reform and opening-up by visiting the two cities.

Myanmar's top leader wants to promote domestic economic development and social stability, Song added.

Than Shwe's visit comes three months after Wen went to Myanmar, where he signed 15 agreements on cooperation in areas including a natural gas pipeline, a hydropower station and development assistance.

China is Myanmar's third-largest trade partner and investor. In 2009, bilateral trade totaled $2.9 billion, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

By January 2010, China's investment in Myanmar had amounted to $1.8 billion, accounting for 11.5 percent of total foreign investment in the country.