Myanmar Prime Minister General Soe Win said on Tuesday in Yangon that in line with the development of economic and trade cooperation between Myanmar and China, the two countries ' traditional friendship would definitely be further enhanced.

Soe Win made the remarks when meeting with Su Shulin, visiting Senior Vice President of the PetroChina Company Limited of China.

Soe Win also said that the traditional friendship between the two nations has not only strengthened their bilateral cooperation but also enhanced cooperation in the region.

He pointed out that Myanmar has rich natural resources, while China possesses capital and technology, which enables the two countries to do so many things in the exploitation of the resources.

China is the 11th largest foreign investor in Myanmar having an investment of 203.52 million US dollars in 25 projects, according to Myanmar official statistics.

China also stands the second largest trading partner of Myanmar at present with their bilateral trade amounting to 1.145 billion US dollars in 2004, up 6.3 percent from 2003, according to Chinese figures. Of the total, China's exports to Myanmar stand at 938 million US dollars, while its imports from Myanmar represent 207 million US dollars.

The two countries are heading for a targeted bilateral trade volume of 1.5 billion US dollars by the end of this year.

Source: Xinhua