[1] On 8 June 1950, Mao Zedong accepted the credentials from Myint Thein in Beijing and formally established diplomatic relations between the Burma and the People's Republic of China.

[18] China and Burma signed a treaty of friendship and mutual non-aggression and promulgated a Joint Declaration on 29 June 1954, officially basing their relations on the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence.

[17]: 13  The border agreement resolved several Chinese claims, including conceding the Namwan Assigned Tract to Burma in exchange for three Kachin villages and a small portion of Wa State to be returned to China.

[17]: 137 In June 2015, Kokang rebels announced a unilateral ceasefire citing "the Chinese government's strong calls for restoring peace in the China–Myanmar border region" among other interests.

The announcement coincided with Aung San Suu Kyi's meeting with Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing.

[5] In October 2018, the China-backed United Wa State Army (UWSA) expelled numerous clergies in northern Myanmar, alleging that some Christian groups contained members aligned to U.S. intelligence organizations.

[35] In July 2019, UN ambassadors from 50 countries, including Myanmar, have signed a joint letter to the UNHRC defending China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region.

Xi promoted practical cooperation under the framework of the One Belt One Road to achieve results at an early date and benefit Myanmar's people.

[9]: 24  In March 2017, China and Russia blocked a UN Security Council Resolution on the Rohingya situation when Auu San Suu Kyi's government was the subject of criticism for ethnic cleansing in Rakhine state.

[9]: 24  A year later, China opposed British efforts for the UN Security Council to issue a statement calling on Myanmar to prosecute those responsible for attacks on the Rohingya.

[9]: 25 In February 2021, the Myanmar coup d'état removed a number of democratically elected members of parliament from power, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.

On 3 February, China and Russia blocked the United Nations Security Council from issuing a statement condemning the military for fear of additional economic sanctions.

[46][47] Despite these statements, China has been, alongside Russia, frequently vetoing any UN resolutions condemning the increasing brutality of the Burmese military junta for fear of additional sanctions that would hurt the region economically.

[48][49] On 3 May 2021, China sent over 500,000 vaccines made by Chinese firms Sinovac and Sinopharm to Myanmar in order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and to demonstrate the friendship (Paukphaw).

Analysts believe China would mediate the conflict and support the faction they deemed capable of imposing stability and protecting Chinese investments.

United States Institute of Peace analysts believed China had chosen the junta over the pro-democracy National Unity Government (NUG) and other rebellion movements, as Beijing deemed the latter too weak to challenge the regime.

[54] However, China has also been reluctant to fully embrace the military junta, with Chinese premier Li Keqiang not attending the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation held in Myanmar in late 2022, leading to the summit's cancellation.

[56] Due to the coup, the Junta's control over the border severely deteriorated, leading to cross-border crime, and threatening China's national security and public support.

[64][6] In January 2024, Myanmar extradited ten individuals connected to the scam ring, including a warlord named Bai Suocheng, to China.

[73] It is one of the chief partners of Myanmar in the project to renovate and expand the Sittwe seaport and has received rights to develop and exploit natural gas reserves in the Arakan region.

[17]: 18  Chinese firms have been involved in the construction of oil and gas pipelines stretching 2,380 km (1,480 mi) from Myanmar's Rakhine State to China's Yunnan Province.

[9]: 93  Yunnan subsidized Chinese businesses to cultivate cash crops like rubber and banana in Myanmar and allow for their importation to China without tariffs.

[82] In February 2018, about 800 villagers in Kachin State protested to the Chief Minister's office against environmental damage caused by Chinese companies planting tissue culture bananas.

[91] In 2014, police in China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region arrested 31 suspects of a gang who were allegedly trafficking women to the country, and freed 11 victims from Myanmar.

[10] Access to Myanmar's ports and naval installations provide China with strategic influence in the Bay of Bengal, in the wider Indian Ocean region and in Southeast Asia.

[96] Beijing also funds road construction linking Yangon and Sittwe, providing the shortest route to the Indian Ocean from southern China.

[citation needed] In recent years, China has shown a lack of willingness to back the Burmese government and has attempted to stabilize the political situation in Myanmar.

[73] In recent years, Myanmar has moved to develop strategic and commercial relations with India, with which it shares a long land border and the Bay of Bengal.

Increasing trade and military cooperation with India and developing bilateral relations with Japan and within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) shows a shift in Myanmar's foreign policy to avoid excessive dependence on China.

[17]: 134–135  A strong Wa Region may also be helpful to China in its dealings with Myanmar, but not if actual fighting disturbs Belt and Road Initiative projects in the area.