Pipeline strengthens Sino-Burmese ties

UNLIKE Western governments, which have tightened sanctions against Myanmar (Burma), China has provided growing political and economic support to the military government in Rangoon, writes Ian Lewis

A decision to push ahead with gas and oil pipelines connecting Myanmar to China indicates a continued tightening of economic ties between the two countries. Construction of the Myanmar section of the pipelines will start in September, according to China's official news agency, Xinhua, with China's largest oil company, China National Petroleum Company (CNPC), expected to carry out the work. The Chinese stretch of the pipelines will be built either by CNPC or its PetroChina subsidiary. A 2,800 km, 1.2bn cubic feet a day (cf/d) pipeline will carry gas from Myanmar, or further afield, to Kunming, in Yunnan province, and on to Nanning, in Guanxi region. A 1,100 km, 400,000 barrels a day (b/d) cru