China–Myanmar relations

China–Myanmar relations (Chinese: 中缅关系; Burmese: တရုတ်မြန်မာဆက်ဆံရေး) are the international relations between the People's Republic of China and Republic of the Union of Myanmar. China and Myanmar share a border and have active bilateral relations with each other.

The earliest relations between the Chinese and the Burmese started between the Pyu city states and Chinese dynasties. The Yuan dynasty launched the first Burma invasion in the 13th century and another invasion in the 14th century. The Qing dynasty fought the Sino-Burmese War in the 18th century. In the 19th century, Burma was colonized by the British Empire. The Allies of World War II provided military aid to China during the Second-Sino Japanese War through the Burma Road. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Burma became the first non-communist country to recognize it, breaking relations with the Republic of China. In the early 1950s, Nationalist forces who had been defeated in the Chinese Civil War crossed into Burma. The PRC and Burma signed a treaty of friendship and mutual non-aggression in 1954, officially basing their relations on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. The China-Burma border was finalized in 1960, and the two countries subsequently launched a military operation to eliminate Kuomintang forces in Burma.

After the 1962 coup, Ne Win enacted a Burmanization of the economy, leading to the expulsion of many Chinese. Anti-Chinese riots took place in 1967, leading China to increase its support to the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), contributing to a breakdown in the relationship. Relations began to improve significantly in the 1970s, when China reduced support for the CPB. Following the violent repression of pro-democracy protests in 1988, the Burmese military junta moved to establish closer relations with China. During the presidency of Thein Sein, there were some setbacks in the relationship with China. Relations were generally positive during the Aung San Suu Kyi era. After the 2021 coup, bilateral relations faced difficulties, due to alleged Chinese backing of rebels in Myanmar's territories and ongoing clashes between ethnic Chinese rebels and the Myanmar military near the China–Myanmar border, as well as Myanmar's failure to crackdown on criminal activities affecting Chinese citizens. Though initially maintaining distance with the military junta, China has since moved closer to the military government, pressuring several rebel groups to sign ceasefire agreements with Myanmar's military.

The relation is often described as a pauk-phaw relationship (Burmese: ပေါက်ဖော်), based on a Burmese term for kinsfolk that implicates special asymmetric obligations between the two countries. Generally, China has maintained positive relationships with both the military and elected governments in Myanmar. China has significant economic investments in Myanmar and is the country's most important supplier of military aid. In addition to the ruling government, China maintains close ties with several rebel groups in Myanmar, most prominently the United Wa State Army.