Myanmar’s Economic and Political Transition and Chinese Investment in Myanmar

　　ABSTRACT: In recent years, China has consistently been the number one source of foreign investment in Myanmar. Since the 2011 suspension of the Myitsone Dam Project, Chinese investment has suffered unexpected challenges, which have brought difficulties for economic cooperation and between the two countries and even negatively impacted their diplomatic relations. Of greater concern is that there does not seem to be a clear path for improving the situation. This paper analyzes the impacts of the 2010 economic and political transition in Myanmar on Chinese investment in the country by looking at the country’s domestic political struggle, its economic reform path and the increased awareness of its civil society. The paper analyzes how Chinese investment in Myanmar has changed since 2010 in terms of investment policy, key projects, amount of investment, and investor strategy and behavior; it considers the impacts of non-government organizations and investors from other countries on Chinese investors; and based on these factors, it looks at future prospects for Chinese investment in Myanmar.