• Burmese
Monday, May 19, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
28 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Business

Gov’t Spells Out Conditions for Signing BRI Deals with China

Nan Lwin by Nan Lwin
May 30, 2019
in Business
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 24, 2019. / REUTERS

Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 24, 2019. / REUTERS

9k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

YANGON—A senior Myanmar official revealed that the government has drawn up a set of conditions for signing memorandums of understanding (MOUs) related to Beijing’s grand infrastructure projects in the country in order to avoid falling into a “debt trap” with China and to ensure the projects benefit both countries. The conditions include acquiring international financing and opening the tender process to non-Chinese companies.

It is the first time a government official has spoken about this issue since September, when Myanmar signed an MOU with China agreeing to establish the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Amid warnings from experts that the project could burden Myanmar with unsustainable debt, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Planning and Finance, U Tun Tun Naing, said the government has discussed three key points with China regarding the CMEC MOU: that Myanmar must be allowed to seek financing from international financial institutions to implement the projects; that the government be allowed to invite international tenders, so as to ensure international investment in the projects; and that the proposed projects must be chosen by Myanmar while creating mutual benefits for both sides.

RelatedPosts

China’s Two-Faced Diplomacy in Myanmar

China’s Two-Faced Diplomacy in Myanmar

May 19, 2025
209
Myanmar Junta Leader Scores Diplomatic Win With Xi Meeting in Moscow

Myanmar Junta Leader Scores Diplomatic Win With Xi Meeting in Moscow

May 15, 2025
1.1k
Disaster Diplomacy in Myanmar: A Convenient Narrative for the Int’l Community

Disaster Diplomacy in Myanmar: A Convenient Narrative for the Int’l Community

May 15, 2025
835

“After China agreed to all of our demands, the minister signed the MOU,” said U Tun Tun Naing at a press conference in Naypyitaw.

“[Planning and Finance] Minister U Soe Win has scrutinized every sentence and word [of the MOU],” he stressed.

In September, the CMEC MOU was signed by U Soe Win and He Lifeng, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency.

The estimated 1,700-km-long corridor will connect Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan Province, to Myanmar’s major economic checkpoints—first to Mandalay in central Myanmar, and then east to Yangon and west to the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy unveiled in 2013, the BRI is a grand vision to revive the historic Silk Road trade route and create a “21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.” Ultimately planning to encompass nearly 70 countries and two-thirds of the world’s population, it would create a network of trade routes from China to Europe passing through Central Asia, the Middle East and Russia.

Lying at the junction of South and Southeast Asia, and between the Indian Ocean and southwestern China’s landlocked Yunnan province, Myanmar occupies a unique geographical position within the ambitious international development plan.

Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi attended the 2nd Belt and Road forum in April in Beijing. During her visit, Myanmar and China signed three agreements focused on strengthening cooperation on trade and technology. Myanmar and China also signed a document outlining a list of early harvest projects for the CMEC to facilitate the implementation of infrastructure projects including building economic zones and upgrading roads across the country.

U Tun Tun Naing said China has proposed a total of 38 projects under the CMEC. However, Myanmar only approved nine early harvest projects at the 2nd BRI forum.

When asked for a full list of the early-harvest projects, the permanent secretary said, “I don’t remember the details but the projects are under review by the related ministries.” Of the nine projects he only mentioned three economic cooperation zones in Kachin and Shan states and the Muse-Mandalay railway project, all of which are already known to the public. Experts have pointed out that the government still has not released information on how the CMEC projects will be implemented on the ground, and the general public has scarce knowledge of the projects.

U Tun Tun Naing said, “Each of the projects’ details will be publicized when it comes time to make decisions on implementation.”

The Ministry of Planning and Finance, the government’s National Economic Coordination Committee (NECC) and other related ministries have vetted each project, he added.

At the first meeting of a BRI steering committee in February, the State Counselor said thorough scrutiny of BRI projects is needed to assess their likely short- and long-term impacts on the country and the public.

She emphasized the need “to make sure that the selected projects are in conformity with national plans, policies and domestic procedures.”

Myanmar inked a separate framework agreement in November for China’s ambitious Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a key strategic project under the BRI that is expected to boost development in China’s landlocked Yunnan province and provide China with direct access to the Indian Ocean, allowing its oil imports to bypass the Strait of Malacca.

Even as BRI projects face pushback among Southeast Asian countries, the vice chairman of China’s top economic planning agency pressed the State Counselor to work out an implementation plan for the CMEC during his visit to Naypyitaw in November.

In October, two state-owned companies, China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (China Railway Group Ltd) and Myanmar Railways signed an MOU on a feasibility study for the proposed railway line from Muse to Mandalay. The two cities are envisioned as key hubs in a plan to improve connectivity in Southeast Asia. Myanmar officials are currently reviewing the study and the final decision for construction is to be made at the end of this year.

“China proposed 38 projects, and our ministries also proposed many projects. But, we will only implement the projects that can guarantee mutual benefits for both sides,” the permanent secretary said.

You May Also Like This Story:

Gov’t Seeks Green Light from Parliament to Join BRI Tax Scheme as Observer

Your Thoughts …
Tags: BRIChinaCMECfinance FOCUS KEYWORD:  BRIInfrastructurestate planningTransparency
Nan Lwin

Nan Lwin

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses
Business

Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses

by The Irrawaddy
November 27, 2023
38.3k

Jin San Jiao is latest northern Shan State trade hub in crosshairs of ethnic Brotherhood Alliance.

Read moreDetails
Brotherhood Alliance Marching Towards Capital of Myanmar’s Kokang Region
Burma

Brotherhood Alliance Marching Towards Capital of Myanmar’s Kokang Region

by The Irrawaddy
November 25, 2023
30.9k

Chinese embassy urges citizens to flee Laukkai Town as ethnic armies prepare to drive Myanmar junta troops from Kokang’s capital.

Read moreDetails
Junta Battalion Controlling Myanmar-China Trade Route Surrenders to KIA 
Burma

Junta Battalion Controlling Myanmar-China Trade Route Surrenders to KIA 

by Saw Reh
January 26, 2024
22.5k

Kachin Independence Army seizes another base in northern Shan State, cutting off regime troops in the border trade town of...

Read moreDetails
Has China Lost Control of Ethnic Armies in Myanmar’s War-Torn Borderland?
Guest Column

Has China Lost Control of Ethnic Armies in Myanmar’s War-Torn Borderland?

by Bertil Lintner
November 6, 2023
21.4k

The Brotherhood Alliance’s offensive against the junta in northern Shan has shut down trade and resource access, but Beijing still...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Regime Raises the White Flag in Kokang Zone on China Border in Shan State
War Against the Junta

Myanmar Regime Raises the White Flag in Kokang Zone on China Border in Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
January 5, 2024
20.4k

Surrender of headquarters in Laukkai town brings the Brotherhood Alliance another step closer to its goal of ridding northern Shan...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
--

Yangon Timeout

Vice Yangon Mayor U Soe Lwin. / Thazin Hlaing / The Irrawaddy

Complaint Filed Against Yangon’s Newly-Elected Vice Mayor

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Junta Leader Scores Diplomatic Win With Xi Meeting in Moscow

Myanmar Junta Leader Scores Diplomatic Win With Xi Meeting in Moscow

4 days ago
1.1k
Silence Is Complicity in the Myanmar Junta’s Massacre of Children

Silence Is Complicity in the Myanmar Junta’s Massacre of Children

5 days ago
871

Most Read

  • Workers at Adidas Factory in Myanmar Strike for Living Wage

    Workers at Adidas Factory in Myanmar Strike for Living Wage

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Abandons Chinese Pipeline Amid Resistance Attacks

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 58 Myanmar Junta Airstrikes Target Civilians in Two Weeks

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Three Japanese Firms Ditch Myanmar Port Project

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Regime’s Moscow Show Masks Military Collapse in Myanmar; and More

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.