China’s Xi meets Myanmar junta chief, pledges to help rebuild post-earthquake

China's President Xi Jinping pledged on Friday to support Myanmar in its rebuilding efforts following the Southeast Asian nation's deadliest earthquake in recent years, Reuters reported today (10 May) citing Chinese state media Xinhua.

Xi met with Myanmar's junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, in Moscow and discussed several initiatives.

The natural disaster has bolstered the position of Min Aung Hlaing, who has been isolated diplomatically for four years after his junta ousted an elected government, sparking a brutal civil war.

The earthquake has enabled the junta leader to re-establish ties with regional powers, with offers of millions in aid, relief supplies, and rescue workers from countries including China, India and Russia.

"Myanmar highly appreciates the three global initiatives proposed by China and the vision of building a community with a shared future with neighbouring countries, and stands ready to work with China to address common challenges," Min Aung Hlaing said.

This was Min Aung Hlaing's first meeting with the Chinese president as the junta chief, since he seized power through a military coup in 2021 by overthrowing Myanmar's brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war, reports The Irawaddy.

He had previously met Xi in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw back in January 2020, a year before seizing power.

In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule.

The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, but he has maintained close ties to allies China and Russia.

He met Beijing's leader Xi Jinping in Moscow on the sidelines of Russia's Victory Day celebrations on Friday and thanked China for its humanitarian assistance following a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in March, according to junta media The Global New Light of Myanmar.

Xinhua reported that Xi expressed his country's support for Myanmar pursuing development "suited to its national conditions, safeguarding its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national stability, and steadily advancing its domestic political agenda".

Xi said he hoped Myanmar would take "concrete measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects in Myanmar, and intensify efforts to combat cross-border crimes".

More than 6,600 people have been killed since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, and millions displaced.

Concerned about the violence on its doorstep destabilising regional peace and its economic ambitions, China has reportedly mediated talks between Myanmar's junta and key rebel groups.