Myanmar military, minority armed group agree ceasefire, China says

The Myanmar military and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) signed a formal agreement for a ceasefire that began on Saturday, China's foreign ministry said, halting fighting near the border of both countries.

The two sides held talks in China's southwestern city of Kunming where they thanked Beijing for its efforts to promote peace, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a regular news briefing on Monday.

"Cooling down the situation in the north of Myanmar is in the common interest of all parties in Myanmar and all countries in the region, and contributes to the security, stability and development of the border areas between China and Myanmar," she said.

China will continue to actively promote peace and dialogue and provide support and assistance to the peace process in northern Myanmar, Mao said.

The MNDAA is one of several ethnic minority armed groups fighting to repel the military from what they consider their territories.

It is part of the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance, with the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army, that launched an offensive against the military junta in late October 2023 seizing swathes of territory near the border with China.

The MNDAA, made up of ethnic Chinese, said last July it had taken control of a major military base near the Chinese border.

Analysts say China is worried about the advance of anti-junta forces which have pushed the military out of vital borderlands and started making inroads towards the central city of Mandalay.

The military seized power from Myanmar's civilian government in February 2021, plunging the country into crisis.

China fears chaos along its more than 2,000 kilometre long border with Myanmar would jeopardise investment and trade.

Beijing previously brokered a ceasefire deal in the northern borderlands in January 2024, but the deal broke down a few months later.