Wen inks oil, gas deals with Myanmar

08:20, June 04, 2010      
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China is expected to launch a string of cooperative investment projects in Myanmar, helping the Asean country to improve livelihood while also ensuring a more reliable energy transmission route for China's economy.
China's Premier Wen Jiabao is leading a high-level Beijing delegation visiting Myanmar now. Wen vowed Thursday to ink a package of energy and other infrastructure projects in Myanmar on schedule, which is aimed at strengthening 60 years of strong bilateral relationship.
The visit by Wen is the first visit by a Chinese prime minister in 16 years. His Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein announced agreements Thursday covering oil and gas pipelines, communications, a hydropower station and aid packages, the Beijing-based China Daily reported.
Briefing Wen on the domestic situation, Myanmar prime minister Thein Sein said the government will try to push forward the democratic process on its political road map, with a general election set for later this year.The two leaders also said they would strive to maintain peace and stability on the border.
When Myanmar government troops busted an illegal arms factory in August, it triggered several days of clashes with an ethnic militia that sent more than 30,000 refugees fleeing across the border into China's Yunnan Province.
After the signing ceremony, the two leaders attended a ceremony to officially inaugurate the Sino-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project.
The two countries agreed to build a US$1.5 billion oil pipeline and a US$1.04 billion gas pipeline in late 2008, and construction kicked off in October.
The pipelines will run parallel to each other and enter China at the border city of Ruili in Yunnan Province.The oil pipeline will terminate in Kunming, capital of Yunnan, while the 2,806-km natural gas pipeline will extend to Guizhou and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Chinese analysts say the oil pipeline will diversify China's crude oil import routes from the Middle East and Africa, and avoid the sea route through the piracy-prone Strait of Malacca.
Myanmar is rich in energy resources, which are unexploited because of capital and technology restraints.
China is Myanmar's third largest trading partner and investor after Thailand and Singapore, with bilateral trade totaling US$2.9 billion in 2009.
As of January, China had invested US$1.8 billion in Myanmar, or 11.5 percent of the country's total foreign direct investment, reported the Xinhua News Agency.
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