China and Myanmar on Tuesday held a new round of diplomacy and defense consultations, and agreed to have close communication on the situation in northern Myanmar and maintain peace and stability in the border area between the two countries.
The talks were co-chaired by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission Shao Yuanming from the Chinese side, and Minister of State of Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Tin and Chief of the No.1 Special Operations Bureau of the Tatmadaw Tun Tun Naung from the Myanmar side.
According to a press release issued by China's Foreign Ministry, China expects relevant parties in Myanmar to exercise restraint and realize a cease-fire in the northern Myanmar area as soon as possible, so as to keep peace and stability in the China-Myanmar border area.
The Myanmar side expressed the will to stabilize the situation in norther Myanmar and continue to push forward domestic peace process. Myanmar also expressed gratitude to China's help in this regard, and welcomed China to play its due role in a constructive way.
Data showed that the conflicts in the norther Myanmar region had impacts on border trade between Myanmar and China, as well as peace and stability.
Border trade between Myanmar's northern Shan state and China dropped over 210 million U.S. dollars as of Nov. 25 in the 2016-2017 fiscal year due to military conflicts, according to the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce.
