Premier Wen Jiabao arrived Wednesday in military-ruled Myanmar for a two-day official visit, the first by such a high-ranking Chinese figure in almost a decade.
Wen is scheduled to meet junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe, Prime Minister Thein Sein and other top leaders Thursday in Naypyitaw, the country's capital. The visit wraps up Wen's four-nation Asia tour after previous stops in South Korea, Japan and Mongolia.
China is Myanmar's main ally, giving diplomatic and economic support. Myanmar is shunned by the West because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
The trip comes at a politically sensitive time as the ruling generals prepare for elections being boycotted by the party of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The polls are part of the government's "roadmap to democracy," which critics have dismissed as a sham. They say the military, which has been in power since 1962, shows little sign of relinquishing control, and note the government has made every effort to prevent Suu Kyi from taking part.
Wen will sign a trade package that will strengthen bilateral economic cooperation, according to China's state Xinhua News Agency, quoting Chinese ambassador to Myanmar Ye Dabo.
Ye said China wanted to expand cooperation in hydropower, energy, mining, communications, fisheries, manufacturing and infrastructure.
China is now Myanmar's third largest trading partner and investor after Thailand and Singapore, with bilateral trade totaling $2.907 billion in 2009. Up to January 2010, China had invested $1.848 billion in Myanmar, or 11.5 percent of Myanmar's total foreign direct investment.
China's then-President Jiang Zemin visited Myanmar in December 2001, and then-Premier Li Peng came in 1994.
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