China Takes Top Investor Crown in Myanmar, and More
China now Myanmar’s top investor, trade partner
China is now officially the top foreign investor and trading partner in Myanmar, consolidating its economic grip as others retreat, according to a report by Japan External Trade Organization.
In fiscal year 2025 ending this March, Myanmar approved US$472.6 million in foreign direct investment, down another one-third or 31.5 percent from a year earlier. But inflow from China rose 2.1‑fold to $201.1 million, meaning it now accounts for 42.6 percent of the total.
The previous leader due to long-standing commitments, Singapore, dropped to second place with $155 million, while Hong Kong contributed $54.9 million, the report said citing data from Directorate of Investment and Company Administration.
Much of the Chinese and Hong Kong capital is in light industry, particularly garment and shoe factories.
Myanmar’s exports to China also climbed 24.7 percent to $4.312 billion over the period, while imports surged 42.6 percent to $5.952 billion. That means China now accounts for over one-third of of Myanmar’s total trade or 35 percent, up from 27.8 percent the previous year.
With the border disruptions, trade has shifted to alternative routes, says the report. The figures did not count China’s trade with territories controlled by the Brotherhood Alliance in northern Shan State bordering Yunnan.
Chinese documentary maps scam empires in lesser-known Shan hubs
A docuseries aired this week by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has shed light on scam syndicates that thrived in four areas along Myanmar’s northern border. While Kokang’s scam empires have long made international headlines, the documentary focuses on three lesser‑known hubs—Wa, Mongla and Muse—as it boasts of Beijing’s “achievements” in cracking down on them.
The show identifies quasi-autonomous Wa territory as the incubator of regional scam economy. At the height of the boom, Mong Pawk alone hosted 265 scam centers involving nearly 60,000 people. But unlike the Kokang clans, who resisted Beijing’s demand to halt operations, the long- ruling United Wa State Army (UWSA) cooperated after one leader was arrested in Kunming and warrants were issued for others.
In October 2023, Wa authorities launched large‑scale sweeps of scam compounds, the documentary reveals. Since then, the UWSA has reported regular transfers of Chinese suspects and illegal immigrants, introducing procedures for voluntary return. More than 1,400 Chinese nationals have been reportedly handed back this year.
But it was in Mongla, controlled by the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), where Beijing started its crackdown in September 2023, and the group cooperated with Chinese authorities. A second strike in July 2024 led to a border law enforcement cooperation agreement between Yunnan police and Mongla authorities, establishing monitoring and repatriation mechanisms.
The crackdown proved most difficult in Muse, where Beijing identified 33 distinct local armed groups and militias, each with over 100 members, alongside Myanmar military‑aligned forces. Unlike the fortified scam parks in Kokang, Muse syndicates operated out of ordinary hotels, apartments, and villas. Despite joint raids in April 2024, scam sites keep popping up like a game of Whac-a-Mole, with arrests continuing this year.
Scam arrests in junta-aligned territory
This week Naypyitaw reported the arrest of 87 scammers—75 Chinese nationals and 12 Myanmar—in the remote valley of Hopong in the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone in southern Shan. They were reportedly operating in makeshift huts, with dozens of computers, more than 500 phones and Star Link satellite dishes.
The self-administered zone, which also includes Hsihseng and Pinlaung townships, is controlled by the Pa-O National Army that is allied to the Myanmar military. Its leaders including Aung Kham Hti have close ties to regime chief Min Aung Hlaing.
The Chinese docuseries admitted that scam centers once entrenched in northern Shan State near the China–Myanmar border have relocated to Karen State’s Myawaddy on Thai border since the crackdown in late 2023 but did not say where else they have scattered. The Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar has been identified scam operations in at least 17 townships in Shan including Tangyan, Laihka, Tachileik and Muse.
Taiwan warns against travel to Myanmar
Taiwan issued a fresh warning against travel to Myanmar this week, citing risks related to online scam centers, escalating conflict, and limited options for citizens’ rescue. The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry singled out the regime’s aerial massacre in Kyauktaw, Rakhine State in late September which killed at least 50 and injured 58, as evidence of insecurity.
At a press conference in Taipei, Michael Lin of the ministry’s Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs said fighting between ethnic groups and the military regime make emergency rescues “extremely difficult.” He also warned of risks from scam centers, which are known to abduct unwary travelers, noting that its overseas missions have “almost no options” to assist citizens who get into trouble.
“If you know relatives or friends who insist on visiting these areas, make every effort to dissuade them, to avoid unnecessary trouble for themselves and their families,” Lin added.
The warning comes as the military regime intensifies its efforts to woo Chinese tourists from mainland China. Myanmar drew barely over 250,000 Chinese visitors in 2025, a sharp decline from the pre-coup boom.
Chinese explosives depot in KIA territory blows up
The aftermath of the explosives depot’s explosion in Lagwi on Oct. 12, 2026.
A blast at a Chinese road-building firm’s explosives warehouse in the village of Lagwi in Kachin State’s Chipwi Township killed seven and injured 11 on Oct. 2. The area is under the control of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which seized it in 2024 to secure its major export to China—rare earths.
The blast was so powerful it destroyed nearby homes and school buildings and was the third deadly incident at explosives depots in ethnic armed group territories this year. On May 31, a warehouse controlled by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army in Namhkam Township blew up, killing more than 50 and injuring over 70. And on Sept. 8, a site under the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in Hseni exploded, leaving at least 15 dead. Chinese companies are involved in mining in both areas.
Compiled by Thurein Lynn
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