President Xi Jinping on Friday vowed to take China’s ties with Myanmar to a “new level” during his maiden visit, which aims at boosting the Communist giant’s investments in mammoth infrastructure projects, including a USD 1.3-million port deal that will provide Beijing a stepping stone to the Indian Ocean.
On his arrival in Myanmar, the first by a Chinese leader in 19 years, President Xi received a royal welcome with two fighter jets escorting his plane after it entered the country’s airspace. As his plane touched down in Nay Pyi Taw, children presented him flowers before he was whisked off to a greeting party, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Huge portraits of the Chinese President and banners celebrating the China-Myanmar friendship and
cooperation were put up along Xi’s route from the airport to downtown.
According to Xinhua, Xi told Myanmar leaders that he was convinced that his visit will “take the bilateral ties to a new level and into a new era”.
China, which for decades has maintained close ties with Myanmar military even when the Myanmar State Counsellor, Suu Kyi, was incarcerated for years, has again became an important ally to fend off global isolation of Nay Pyi
Taw in the wake of the Rohingya crisis.