Myanmar’s junta boss Min Aung Hlaing and Chinese Premier Li Qiang discussed border stability and the resumption of trade during their meeting in Kunming on Wednesday.
Traders, however, said the border crossings are unlikely to reopen soon.
The Muse and Chin Shwe Haw gates in northern Shan State were major trade hubs with the Muse trade worth about US$10 million a day before the Covid pandemic. Fighting stopped trade in November last year.
A trader from Myanmar said: “The gates will be closed until the armed groups along the border and the regime reach an agreement. Pressuring the groups won’t work. I don’t think this trip will affect border trade.”
Muse is still held by the regime but the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Kachin Independence Army have cut off the town.
The regime and China closed the border in a publicized move to “fight illegal trade”, which the junta said was “funding armed groups along the border”.
It imposed a crackdown on “illegal” imports from China and Thailand, resulting in shortages of consumer goods and price hikes. Min Aung Hlaing told Li that trade could be resumed only when there was border stability.
A Muse resident said: “We can only buy 10,000 kyats of fuel at around 1,200 kyats per liter. We still get food and medicines from Yangon and Mandalay but the prices are high because of transport costs.”
A trader said: “China closed the border and the Union Highway is blocked so we cannot export.”
Min Aung Hlaing told Li that he is ready to talk if the Brotherhood Alliance, consisting of the MNDAA, TNLA and Arakan Army, shows it wants peace.
He visited Kunming in his first visit to China since the 2021 coup to attend the eighth Greater Mekong summit with leaders from Laos, Thailand and Vietnam and other meetings.
On Tuesday, the junta boss met Chinese business leaders in Kunming, offering tax incentives for investments in Myanmar’s electricity, fertilizer, steel, livestock, timber, cement and transport sectors.
He told them that armed groups were deliberately disrupting border stability and that illegal trade was not in either nation’s interests.
Of the five official border gates — Muse, Chin Shwe Haw, Kanpiketi, Lwelgel and Mongla — only Mongla is open.
Since late October, China has banned the export of food, consumer goods, electronics, building materials and fuel to pressure armed groups to stop fighting the regime.
