A pagoda is pictured in the ancient city of Bagan, Myanmar, May 4, 2023. Bagan, an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in central Myanmar's Mandalay Region. With thousands of ancient Buddhist pagodas, temples and monasteries, the ancient city is one of the top tourist attractions in Myanmar. Photo:Xinhua

With China's mediation and effort to drive progress, representatives of Myanmar's military and three armed ethnic groups in northern Myanmar held peace talks in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province, and reached a formal cease-fire agreement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday.

The cease-fire agreement is undoubtedly a positive development that deserves recognition and encouragement, as it provides a valuable opportunity for various Myanmar parties to engage in peace talks to end the unrest by creating favorable conditions for restoring peace and stability.

A cease-fire is, first and foremost, greatly beneficial to the embattled Myanmar and its people. As a long period of domestic conflict has led to something of an economic development standstill and left its population in poverty, peace and stability in northern Myanmar are totally in the interests of the country's own development. They are also directly related to the security and development of the China-Myanmar border area and bilateral economic cooperation, such as the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor and Chinese projects in Myanmar. It is out of humanitarian, comprehensive, and prudent considerations that China chose to mediate and push for peace talks among the relevant parties, a move aimed at both maintaining peace and stability in Myanmar and strengthening mutually beneficial economic cooperation in the region. 

After years of efforts, China and Myanmar have developed extensive cooperation in areas like energy, trade and investment. Myanmar is an important energy supplier to China, which is of great significance to China's energy security. 

As a close neighbor, Myanmar is an important trading partner for China, with bilateral trade on the rise in recent years. Meanwhile, Chinese companies have invested in many projects in areas such as power generation, agricultural research centers and resources development. These examples of economic and trade cooperation are not only in the interests of Myanmar's social and economic development, but also conducive to improving local people's livelihoods.

Fundamentally speaking, development is the foundation of stability, and this logic applies to not only Myanmar's situation, but also to many other countries and regions plagued by instability. 

As things stand, a cease-fire is the first step, which represents the possibility of negotiating a solution and promoting mutual understanding and trust among relevant parties through development.

It should be noted that China has always adhered to the principles of noninterference in Myanmar's internal affairs, non-support of any side and noninterference in the military operations of any side. Although China pushed for the cease-fire agreement this time, its implementation will take time and whether it will lead to peace through talks requires joint efforts from relevant Myanmar parties. 

It is our hope that relevant parties in Myanmar can resolve their differences and conflicts through peaceful means. There is no denying that economic and trade cooperation between China and Myanmar is facing the test of the latter's domestic instability, but considering the regional situation, bilateral relations and Myanmar's development interests, China and Myanmar have great potential for cooperation in key areas such as investment, transport, energy, agriculture, the digital Silk Road and environmental protection, among others. 

China is Myanmar's largest trading partner. With the implementation of the cease-fire agreement, border trade is expected to be among the first aspects to be improved. In the April-October period for the 2023-24 fiscal year, border trade between China and Myanmar reportedly exceeded $2.2 billion, up $710 million compared with the same period in the previous fiscal year.

Moreover, bilateral trade could see more potential on the basis of regional free trade frameworks such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). As China has reduced tariffs on imports from Myanmar, the country is bound to enjoy more trade dividends in regional economic integration.

Thus, we hope relevant parties in Myanmar can push the situation toward genuine peace and stability, which will be greatly conducive to their economic growth and elevate economic and trade cooperation with China to a new level.