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China-Myanmar Cooperation: News & Discussions

China can use its stick to discipline the Burmese. I wonder what option BD has.
 
China, Myanmar Sign Historic Deal on Oil Pipeline After Decade of Talks

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China and Myanmar signed an agreement on an oil pipeline between the neighboring countries after almost a decade of talks, local media reported Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to China Daily newspaper, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Myanmar counterpart U Htin Kyaw signed the agreement and eight other cooperation documents on Monday.

No details of the agreement have been disclosed so far, though the pipeline launch is set to take place in the near future, according to China's Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin.

The pipeline is set to connect Myanmar's western Kyaukpyu Port to China's southwestern Yunnan province.


During the talks Xi also stressed that Beijing was interested in close cooperation with Naypyidaw, in particular, in connectivity projects and creation of special economic zones.


China and Myanmar agreed on construction of a 770 kilometer-long (478 miles) pipeline about 10 years ago, with works completed in 2014. However, the launch had never taken place due to constant disagreements between the two countries. The pipeline has a strategic importance to China.

https://sputniknews.com/asia/201704111052512832-china-myanmar-pipeline-deal/
 
Myanmar pipeline gives China faster supply of oil from Middle East

Link allows crude imports to arrive without using Malacca Strait

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 12 April, 2017, 12:12am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 12 April, 2017, 12:12am

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A crude oil pipeline to southwestern China through its neighbour Myanmar began operations after years of delays, allowing the world’s second-biggest oil user to receive supplies faster from the Middle East and Africa.

A Suezmax-sized tanker, which can hold 140,000 tonnes (about 1 million barrels) of crude, began offloading oil for the pipeline on Monday at Myanmar’s Made Island, according to Xinhua. Operations on the line, which was completed in 2014 and originally scheduled to start the same year, were beginning after the government of Myanmar agreed to lower transit fees, Wang Dongjin, the president of PetroChina, said last month.

The link, which allows China to import crude from the Middle East and Africa without having to ship through the Strait of Malacca and into the South China Sea, is part of President Xi Jinping’s “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure and trade development plan stretching across Asia to Africa and Europe.

“It may send a message to those countries that are still hesitating about whether to participate that the initiative is China’s top national strategy and can bring economic benefits to participants,” said Fan Hongwei, an international relations professor at Xiamen University.


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Trial operations began in 2015 on the 771km pipeline, which is designed to carry 22 million tonnes of crude a year. Myanmar could take 2 million tonnes annually from it, Xinhua said.

For Myanmar, the initial benefits were probably minimal, said Suresh Sivanandam, a senior research manager at Wood Mackenzie. It might get a small amount of oil and some revenue from oil storage and pipeline tariff fees, while experience from China in building energy infrastructure would be a boon later, he said.

“Myanmar is growing very fast, and sooner rather than later they might need more oil refineries,” Sivanandam said. “The process of building energy infrastructure should help them in the long run to meet growing domestic demand.”

China and Myanmar to discuss replacement for dam

The Suezmax tanker United Dynamic arrived at Myanmar around Sunday after loading oil from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan terminal in Turkey on March 5, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

The pipeline ends in China’s Yunnan province, where PetroChina has built an oil refinery with the capacity to process 13 million tonnes a year of crude.

China’s biggest oil and gas company was in talks with Saudi Arabian Oil Company about investing in the plant, which would begin operations in June, Wang said last month.

PetroChina finished building the refinery in the provincial capital Kunming about six months ago and has been waiting for pipeline deliveries to start, according to Sivanandam. It would take about 12 million barrels of crude to fill the pipeline before deliveries could start, he said.

Once the refinery started up, it would sell products in the southwest mainland, displacing petrol and diesel from refineries in central and southern parts of the nation, he said. That will likely increase the country’s net exports of refined products, which rose to a monthly record of 2.85 million tonnes in November.

China’s oil and gas trio tipped to post lower 2015 profits and cut 2016 output amid oil price rout

China and Myanmar on Monday signed an agreement on the pipeline, as well as eight other cooperation documents, after talks between Xi and Myanmese President Htin Kyaw, who was visiting China from Thursday to yesterday, China Daily reported.

China’s crude imports rose almost 14 per cent last year, the fastest annual pace since 2010, and touched a record in December of 8.6 million barrels a day.

“It opens another channel for China to diversify oil imports,” said Tian Miao, an analyst at North Square Blue Oak in Beijing.

China is also fed by a parallel natural gas pipeline that runs through Myanmar to Yunnan province, designed to carry 12 billion cubic metres annually. PetroChina’s parent company, China National Petroleum Corporation began to import gas from Myanmar in 2013, according to a statement on its website. Shipments totalled 2.86 million tonnes last year, customs data showed, accounting for about 5 per cent of the country’s total imports.

Companies including Total and Woodside Petroleum are exploring for resources off shore of Myanmar.

The country had about 3.4 per cent of the Asia-Pacific region’s total proven gas reserves as of 2015, according to BP data.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/econ...ine-gives-china-faster-supply-oil-middle-east
 
but still under indian influence so india new dog of america anytime can stop oil supply bad move who ever wrote artical
 
Duration: 1:05 min

China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline begins to flow
CGTN
Published on 11 Apr 2017

Cooperation between China and Myanmar on energy entered a new phase on Monday evening, after a tanker carrying 140,000 tons of crude oil started to offload at Made Island oil port in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state.

The transport of the crude oil came after the leaders of the two countries oversaw the signing of a China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline transmission agreement.

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Myanmar to buy over 1,000 buses from China to reinforce transport strength

(Xinhua) 10:19, April 16, 2017

Myanmar's Yangon regional government had entered a contract with Chinese Yutong company for buying over 1,000 buses to supply Yangon Bus Services System, official media reported Saturday.

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  A Chinese Yutong bus. [File Photo: mhwmm.com]

The buses will arrive next month and run on Yangon Bus line, an official of Yangon Region Transport Authority was quoted as saying.

Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein vowed that Yangon bus services system will be upgraded to meet international standard early next year.

All 300 old bus lines running in Myanmar's former capital city of Yangon were abolished and replaced with up to the 79 new bus lines starting on Jan. 16 in an effort to reduce traffic jam in the city and make the bus lines systematically operational.

According to the Yangon regional office, there are currently 79 bus lines operated by 3,500 buses in Yangon to transport 2.5 million people daily out of 6 million's residents in Yangon.
 
China-Myanmar pipelines: 'Paukphaw' route
By Zhang Lulu
China.org.cn, May 9, 2017


The Myanmar-China oil pipeline on Made Island in Myanmar on May 3. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/China.org.cn]

Energy channel
The Myanmar-China Oil Pipeline starting from Made Island in Kyaukpyu of West Myanmar, crosses four states before entering Yunnan Province. Construction on the 771-kilometer pipeline began in 2010 and was completed in 2015. It formally began operation on April 10 this year, when a 140,000-MT oil tanker offloaded its crude oil at the island port.

The pipeline has a designed transmission capacity of 22 million tons of crude oil per year, with Myanmar taking two million tons for its own needs.

A similar pipeline, known as the Myanmar-China Gas Pipeline, runs parallel to the oil route. The 793-kilometer pipeline began operation in 2015 with a designed annual transmission capacity of 12 billion cubic meters, one-sixth of which can be retained by Myanmar.

The twin pipelines are part of the Belt and Road infrastructure and trade cooperation framework that China proposed in 2013 to connect Asia, Europe, Africa as well as the rest of the world.

The two pipelines are widely seen as allowing China to diversify its energy supply routes - mostly traversing the sea – but Jiang Changliang, president of CNPC South-East Asia Pipeline Company Ltd (SEAP), is convinced it is far more than that.

"The gas pipeline has already become a key energy artery for Myanmar and the oil pipeline will play an increasingly important role for the country in the near future," he told China.org.cn on May 3, "The two pipelines help bring China and Myanmar closer."



U Hla Tun is a Made Island resident. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/China.org.cn]

'Paukphaw' relationship

"China and Myanmar are long-time friends; and this is reflected in them being the only countries in the world to use the word 'paukphaw' to describe their relationship," Jiang continued, referring to the Burmese word that means "fraternity."

Tun Lin, a 26-year-old Burmese driver at SEAP, certainly knows the word inside out. He began work on April 3, 2014, a day he can vividly remember. Besides driving, the youngster is keen to learn from his Chinese colleagues everything ranging from the Chinese language to technology.

He learned the water-cleaning technology from Chinese co-workers in 2015 and when he finds a problem with the machinery, he will proactively refer it to maintenance staff. He was recognized as one of the company's "Outstanding Staff" in 2015.

For 37-year-old Zayar Oo, a Burmese excavator driver, working for a Chinese company is quite different from his previous experience. He came to the island in 2009 and changed jobs several times before settling down at SEAP three years ago. "Working here as a Burmese is no different from being a Chinese," he said, "Everyone is like a brother, and I feel I am equal to others. This is unlikely to happen in other foreign companies."

According to Han Jianqiang, assistant president of SEAP, there are more than 280 Myanmar employees compared to 152 Chinese in the company, including more than 50 islanders.

Eye-opening, convenient projects

Zayar Oo remembers the look of the island when he first arrived eight years ago. "There were only hills on the island, and beyond the coast, there are still hills." He said, "The company made efforts to improve the living conditions of islander step-by-step." He pointed to the reservoirs, electricity power lines and roads that the company has brought to the isolated location.

The island is home to three villages, with more than 700 households and 3,000 residents. Both Zayar Oo and U Hla Tun recalled the days when there was no electricity at all and felt grateful the island now has access to power four hours a day -- with the likelihood of having 24-hour power supply by the end of this year.

Previously storing rain water for use, villagers now have access to clean water through the reservoir and 15 water points built by the company in the three villages.

The pipeline company has also brought eye-opening experience to the island, Zayar Oo said. "When the islanders first heard of 'building roads,' they had no idea what that meant. Now, that they have roads that connect the three villages, which were previously cut off from each other, they want more."

The same is true with meeting people from outside the island. "Islanders used to know their fellow villagers only, but with the arrival of the company, they can meet people from around the world. And things like oil tankers….what a big thing for them to see!"

According to information released at a news conference on May 9, a total of 47 Chinese companies have invested or participated in 1,676 projects in Belt and Road countries in the past three years.


f44d307d8e551a7bbb7816.jpg

Zayar Oo is a Burmese excavator driver at SEAP. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/China.org.cn]

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The Myanmar-China oil pipeline on Made Island in Myanmar on May 3. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/China.org.cn]

@Aung Zaya
 
China-Myanmar pipelines: 'Paukphaw' route
By Zhang Lulu
China.org.cn, May 9, 2017

The Myanmar-China oil pipeline on Made Island in Myanmar on May 3. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/China.org.cn]

Energy channel
The Myanmar-China Oil Pipeline starting from Made Island in Kyaukpyu of West Myanmar, crosses four states before entering Yunnan Province. Construction on the 771-kilometer pipeline began in 2010 and was completed in 2015. It formally began operation on April 10 this year, when a 140,000-MT oil tanker offloaded its crude oil at the island port.

The pipeline has a designed transmission capacity of 22 million tons of crude oil per year, with Myanmar taking two million tons for its own needs.

A similar pipeline, known as the Myanmar-China Gas Pipeline, runs parallel to the oil route. The 793-kilometer pipeline began operation in 2015 with a designed annual transmission capacity of 12 billion cubic meters, one-sixth of which can be retained by Myanmar.

The twin pipelines are part of the Belt and Road infrastructure and trade cooperation framework that China proposed in 2013 to connect Asia, Europe, Africa as well as the rest of the world.

The two pipelines are widely seen as allowing China to diversify its energy supply routes - mostly traversing the sea – but Jiang Changliang, president of CNPC South-East Asia Pipeline Company Ltd (SEAP), is convinced it is far more than that.

"The gas pipeline has already become a key energy artery for Myanmar and the oil pipeline will play an increasingly important role for the country in the near future," he told China.org.cn on May 3, "The two pipelines help bring China and Myanmar closer."


U Hla Tun is a Made Island resident. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/China.org.cn]

'Paukphaw' relationship

"China and Myanmar are long-time friends; and this is reflected in them being the only countries in the world to use the word 'paukphaw' to describe their relationship," Jiang continued, referring to the Burmese word that means "fraternity."

Tun Lin, a 26-year-old Burmese driver at SEAP, certainly knows the word inside out. He began work on April 3, 2014, a day he can vividly remember. Besides driving, the youngster is keen to learn from his Chinese colleagues everything ranging from the Chinese language to technology.

He learned the water-cleaning technology from Chinese co-workers in 2015 and when he finds a problem with the machinery, he will proactively refer it to maintenance staff. He was recognized as one of the company's "Outstanding Staff" in 2015.

For 37-year-old Zayar Oo, a Burmese excavator driver, working for a Chinese company is quite different from his previous experience. He came to the island in 2009 and changed jobs several times before settling down at SEAP three years ago. "Working here as a Burmese is no different from being a Chinese," he said, "Everyone is like a brother, and I feel I am equal to others. This is unlikely to happen in other foreign companies."

According to Han Jianqiang, assistant president of SEAP, there are more than 280 Myanmar employees compared to 152 Chinese in the company, including more than 50 islanders.

Eye-opening, convenient projects

Zayar Oo remembers the look of the island when he first arrived eight years ago. "There were only hills on the island, and beyond the coast, there are still hills." He said, "The company made efforts to improve the living conditions of islander step-by-step." He pointed to the reservoirs, electricity power lines and roads that the company has brought to the isolated location.

The island is home to three villages, with more than 700 households and 3,000 residents. Both Zayar Oo and U Hla Tun recalled the days when there was no electricity at all and felt grateful the island now has access to power four hours a day -- with the likelihood of having 24-hour power supply by the end of this year.

Previously storing rain water for use, villagers now have access to clean water through the reservoir and 15 water points built by the company in the three villages.

The pipeline company has also brought eye-opening experience to the island, Zayar Oo said. "When the islanders first heard of 'building roads,' they had no idea what that meant. Now, that they have roads that connect the three villages, which were previously cut off from each other, they want more."

The same is true with meeting people from outside the island. "Islanders used to know their fellow villagers only, but with the arrival of the company, they can meet people from around the world. And things like oil tankers….what a big thing for them to see!"

According to information released at a news conference on May 9, a total of 47 Chinese companies have invested or participated in 1,676 projects in Belt and Road countries in the past three years.


f44d307d8e551a7bbb7816.jpg

Zayar Oo is a Burmese excavator driver at SEAP. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/China.org.cn]

f44d307d8e551a7bbba617.jpg

The Myanmar-China oil pipeline on Made Island in Myanmar on May 3. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/China.org.cn]

@Aung Zaya
That's nice. Hope 7.5B USD SEZ project also could be started in very soon. It will help a lot the regional development .that's win-win for us..!! :D
 
That's nice. Hope 7.5B USD SEZ project also could be started in very soon. It will help a lot the regional development .that's win-win for us..!! :D

It may be on the agenda during the present trip.

***


Aung San Suu Kyi to attend Belt and Road forum in Beijing

Xinhua Published: 2017-05-11 15:07:57

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for Sunday and Monday in Beijing, the Myanmar Foreign Ministry announced Thursday.

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Aung San Suu Kyi [File photo: Xinhua]

This will be Aung San Suu Kyi's second trip to China since her National League for Democracy took power in April 2016.

Located on the routes of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Myanmar is key partner of China under the Belt and Road Initiative, which envisions trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes over land and sea.
 
The oil was supposed to flow last 2 years? it was not commissioned because the refinery in Kunming was not ready yet.
 
Myanmar, having warmed to the West, turns to China again
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON
Associated Press

MAY 27, 2017 — 1:40AM
WASHINGTON — Myanmar was supposed to turn away from China and toward the West when the U.S. helped it transition from five decades of military rule.

The opposite is happening as the Southeast Asian country's new civilian government fails to attract Western investment and Beijing goes on a charm offensive. China is offering economic and political support and a relationship free of the human rights concerns straining Myanmar's ties elsewhere.

Also known as Burma, Myanmar represented a foreign policy success for President Barack Obama. He coaxed its powerful generals into ceding power by normalizing diplomatic relations and rolling back years of economic sanctions, paving the way for Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to take power after winning elections.

Suu Kyi's historic struggle for democracy still evokes deep respect in Washington and European capitals, but 14 months running a civilian government has exposed her inability to bring peace to a country riven by ethnic conflict. She also has struggled to produce economic growth, hobbled by a lack of control over the nation's still powerful military and a rigid management style.

Finding less love among the Western democracies, Suu Kyi is cautiously embracing closer ties to China.

"Amid the unpredictable challenges of this democratic transition, Western influence on Burma is waning, while Beijing is becoming more assertive," Myanmar's Irrawaddy news website said in an editorial.

Recent weeks have seen a flurry of China-Myanmar engagement. Suu Kyi met Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a Beijing summit in mid-May, her second visit there in the past year. Earlier, Myanmar's titular president, Htin Kyaw, received a six-day state visit. Suu Kyi's trip ended with an agreement with China to create an economic cooperation zone as part of the Asian giant's "Belt and Road" initiative to connect with Asian and European markets.


Last weekend, Myanmar's Navy held drills with Chinese warships. China's state-run Global Times said the military cooperation demonstrated "political trust."

That trust was expected to develop between Suu Kyi and the U.S.-led West.

Myanmar's enduring fear of being dominated by its much larger neighbor, China, was one reason it improved ties with the United States in the first place. The Obama administration seized the opportunity while trying to "pivot" American foreign policy focus to Asia, hoping deeper relationships with its booming economies would provide the U.S. long-term strategic and economic advantages.

Derek Mitchell, the former U.S. ambassador who spearheaded Obama's Myanmar rapprochement, said China was "stunned" when the country reached out to the West between 2011 and 2015. China is now making up for lost time, and capitalizing on President Donald Trump's reduced attention for Myanmar, he said.

"It gave an opportunity for China to say, 'See we're on your border and we're here to stay. You can't count on the Americans,'" Mitchell said.


The State Department and White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Trump has started to reach out to Southeast Asian leaders, praising Philippines' president Rodrigo Duterte for his deadly war on drugs and inviting him and Thailand's prime minister, who took power in a coup, to the White House. Next week, Trump is hosting communist Vietnam's prime minister.

Trump has yet to speak with democratic icon Suu Kyi.

For two decades, while Myanmar languished under repressive military rule, U.S. administrations and influential lawmakers adored Suu Kyi. Obama helped her transformation from political prisoner to national leader, fostering democracy on China's doorstep. Republicans and Democrats touted the change as a victory for U.S. interests and values.

China, which sees Myanmar as a land bridge to the Indian Ocean, saw a strategic setback.


Yun Sun, a China expert at the Stimson Center in Washington, said Chinese policy experts even characterized it with a proverb: "The cooked duck flew out of the window."

She said the proverb's meaning is clear: "Myanmar was already in our pockets but somehow the Americans stole it from us."

But Trump may have little political incentive now to prioritize U.S. ties with Myanmar.

"What are left now are the problems," Sun added.

Problem one is sluggish economic growth. Washington has increased foreign aid and encouraged American investors by lifting sanctions. But the moves haven't spurred economic activity in one of Asia's last untapped markets.


Myanmar ranks 170th out of 190 nations in the World Bank's ease-of-doing-business rankings, and third-worst globally for contract enforcement. Foreign investment dropped almost a third between April 2016 and April 2017, according to Myanmar government figures, with no new U.S. projects.

Problem two is human rights. Western nations in March backed a U.N. fact-finding mission on reported atrocities against Myanmar's downtrodden Rohingya Muslims. Suu Kyi opposed the idea, tarnishing her international reputation.

Problem three is ethnic conflict. Suu Kyi has prioritized resolving Myanmar's decades-long wars between the army and ethnic rebels, with little success. She tried again this week, bringing rebel groups together for talks with the government and military.

China has leverage with rebels near its border and says it supports peace. Resolution, however, hinges on Myanmar's willingness to cede power to minorities and facilitate greater federalism.

On economic development, China faces wary Burmese citizens. Chinese projects have uprooted villagers and hurt the environment, factors that led Myanmar in 2011 to suspend a $3.6 billion dam primarily funded by Chinese energy interests. The suspension remains a sore point.


Mitchell, the former Obama envoy, warned of a larger strategic setback for the U.S.

Failing to consolidate Myanmar's transition would tell the region's autocratic governments they were right, he said, that "democracy doesn't work in Asia."
http://www.startribune.com/myanmar-having-warmed-to-the-west-turns-to-china-again/424735703/
 
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