China, Myanmar to jointly carry forward friendship and create new chapter of friendly cooperation
By Ren Huanyu
At the invitation of President
U Win Myint of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar,
Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Myanmar from Jan. 17 to
18. The visit is expected to help enhance bilateral ties and
further promote joint efforts of the two countries to build on past
achievements and continue to forge ahead.
The upcoming visit, which
coincides with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties
between China and Myanmar, will also mark the first visit by a Chinese president
to Myanmar in 19 years.
China and Myanmar are close
neighbors linked by mountains and rivers. The two peoples enjoy profound “Paukphaw”
(fraternal) friendship.
Since the founding of the
People’s Republic of China, leaders of China and Myanmar exchanged visits
frequently. Late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai visited Myanmar 9 times,
and late leader of Myanmar Ne Win visited
China 12 times, creating great stories of China-Myanmar friendship.
In 1950s, the Five Principles of
Peaceful Coexistence jointly advocated by Premier Zhou, Myanmar’s former Prime
Minister U Nu, and India’s first Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru has become globally recognized basic norms governing state-to-state
relations and contributed significantly to
safeguarding peace and stability in the world.
In
recent years, China and Myanmar have witnessed frequent high-level exchanges,
expanding pragmatic cooperation, dynamic people-to-people and cultural
exchanges, and close multilateral coordination, bringing tangible benefits to
the peoples of the two countries while making positive contributions to
regional peace and prosperity.
The forthcoming visit of Xi to Myanmar is worth the anticipation of
both countries. The trip to be embarked on by Xi is expected to serve as a
great occasion for the two countries to review past experience and formulate a
new blueprint for the future, which will enable China and Myanmar to further
enrich bilateral ties, make concerted efforts to build a community of
shared future for China and Myanmar, and start a brand new journey
of China-Myanmar relations.
Under the strategic leadership of leaders of the two countries,
China-Myanmar “Paukphaw” friendship has constantly injected new vitality into
the joint efforts of the two countries at the construction of the Belt and
Road.
China regards Myanmar as an important partner in the joint construction
of the Belt and Road. The two countries enjoy significant complementary
advantages and huge potential for cooperation.
The government of Myanmar has established a specialized steering
committee for the implementation of tasks relating to the Belt and Road
Initiative (BRI), and appointed Myanmar’s State
Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi as the chair of the committee.
On Dec.1, 2017, Xi and Aung San Suu Kyi reached important
consensus on jointly building the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) under
the framework of the BRI, thus pushing the rapid construction of the
China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.
On
Sept.9, 2018, China and Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on
jointly building the CMEC.
Myanmar has
supported the BRI since the very beginning, and has actively expanded
cooperation with China,
noted Aung San Suu Kyi
during her meeting with Xi in Beijing ahead of the second Belt and Road Forum
for International Cooperation in April 2019.
With the deepening of the two countries’ efforts to further the joint
construction of the Belt and Road, the two peoples have enjoyed increasing
sense of gain.
As the pilot project in the construction of the Belt and Road, the
completion of the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project has
solved the problem of oil and gas supply in the downstream market and helped
Myanmar realize foreign exchange earnings from the export of oil and gas,
bringing considerable economic revenue to Myanmar while effectively boosting
the country’s employment and social and economic development.
The gas-fired
power plant in Belin, Kyuakse Township
in Mandalay, Myanmar, with a Chinese company as the EPC
contractor, is the largest gas-fired power plant in Myanmar.
The power plant is able to generate about 1.27
billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year.
It has solved the problem of the power shortage of 2.7 million people in
Myanmar upon completion.
The Letpadaung
copper mine project operated by a Chinese company in Monywa,
Myanmar, has realized win-win results for multiple parties, including Chinese
company and its Myanmar cooperative partners, as well as the government of
Myanmar, adjacent communities of the project, and employees in the copper mine.
According to credible reports, the project has helped more than 30
neighboring villages of the copper mine embark on the path to prosperity.
The efforts of China and Myanmar at deepening cooperation in high-quality
construction of the Belt and Road and facilitating the CMEC’s development from
concept planning to real construction have brought more genuine
benefits to the two peoples.
As the long-standing China-Myanmar “Paukphaw” friendship gains new
dynamism and signals new momentum of cooperation because of Xi’s upcoming state
visit to Myanmar, the event is also regarded as a happy opening of the
journey of Chinese diplomacy in 2020.
With China and Myanmar endeavoring to promote bilateral relations,
strengthen connectivity, promote the construction of the CMEC, and lift
China-Myanmar ties to a higher level, the two countries will jointly create a
bright future for their friendly cooperation.
Source: People’s Daily
Local students of a school built with the assistance of the China-Myanmar
oil and gas pipeline project express their thanks to Chinese companies on
Jan.10, 2020. (Photo by Sun Guangyong from People’s Daily)
China, Myanmar to jointly carry forward friendship and create new chapter of friendly cooperation
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