Chinese ventures crop up in northern Shan State town under Kokang administration

Since its capture by an ethnically Kokang armed group in 2023, the town of Hseni (Hsenwi), northern Shan State has drawn large numbers of Chinese business people, reportedly encouraged further by a recent, Chinese government-brokered ceasefire. 

Located on a major trade route crossing northern Shan State’s border with China’s Yunnan Province, the city has been under the control of the Kokang Army—also known by its official name, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA)—since late October 2023.