YANGON: Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will travel to close ally China next month, two sources close to the military told AFP today, in what would be his first known trip there since he led a coup in 2021.
Min Aung Hlaing is planning to go China in November the trip has been planned since Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited Myanmar in August, a source close to the military said.
He (Min Aung Hlaing) will visit China next month, another source said.
Both sources requested anonymity to talk to the media.
AFP has contacted Chinas embassy in Yangon for comment.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said I currently have no information to provide on your question, when asked about the trip at a regular press briefing today.
Beijing is a major ally and arms supplier of the internationally isolated junta that is battling opponents across the country following its coup in 2021.
Analysts say Beijing also maintains ties with Myanmar ethnic armed groups that hold territory near its border.
Some of those groups have seized territory from the junta in northern Shan state, disrupting traffic along a vital trade highway to China.
Shan state borders Chinas Yunnan province and is a vital piece of Beijings trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.
Relations between Beijing and Naypyidaw cooled last year over the juntas failure to crack down on online scam compounds in Myanmars borderlands targeting Chinese citizens.
The compounds were staffed by citizens of China and other countries who were often trafficked and forced to work swindling their compatriots in an industry analysts say is worth billions.
Analysts suggest Beijing later gave tacit approval to an offensive by an alliance of ethnic rebel groups across Shan state, which the alliance said was launched partly to root out the scam compounds.
In August, China said it supports the juntas plan to hold fresh elections and return the conflict-torn country to a democratic transition.
Opponents say the polls will be neither free nor fair, with many opposition parties banned and clashes occurring across much of the country.
Min Aung Hlaing has visited Russia another major ally and arms supplier several times since the coup, including a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in 2022.