During President U Thein Sein's recent three-day visit to Beijing, a number of deals, including construction of a railroad from the port city of Kyaukpru in Arakan to Ruili in China's Yunnan Province and a credit line of USD 763 million, were signed to expand economic cooperation between China and Burma.

China Railway Group Limited, China's largest railroad builder, announced at the end of the presidential visit on 28 May that it had signed a side agreement to build a 810-kilometer long railroad between Kyaukrpu and Ruili through Muse on Burma's border.

The company said construction of the railroad was expected to be complete within three years and would help enhance economic ties between the two countries as well as promote economic growth in Burma.

Apart from the railroad, China has been building oil and gas pipelines, a deep seaport, and a terminus for receiving crude oil that will be supplied from the Middle East and Africa, as part of the Shwe Gas Project in Kyaukpru.

Local residents from poverty-stricken Arakan State, however, have no faith that they will benefit from these infrastructure and business projects being implemented by Burma and China in their state.

U Won Aung, an Arakanese activist for the Shwe Gas Movement based in Thailand, said neither benefit nor development has been seen so far for Arakan or its people since the projects have been started.

"It has already been three years since the projects related to the Shwe Gas Project have begun in Arakan State, and no benefit or development has so far been seen for the state or its people, but the projects have already deprived local people of arable land and their livelihoods with little or no compensation," said Won Aung.

The Burmese regime often announces through its media that it has been striving for the equal development of all states and divisions in Burma with the implementation of infrastructure and business projects.

Won Aung, however, said the government's continuous failure to meet the basic needs of the local people in Arakan State shows its claims for development are just propaganda and not practical words.

There is also widespread criticism of the Burmese regime at home and abroad for its selling off of national resources to neighboring countries for its own profit, in spite of the country's own need for development.

According to the reports of Burmese media after Thein Sein’s China visit, China is Burma’s biggest trade partner and the trade volume between the two countries reached USD 5.3 billion in the fiscal year 2010. It is expected to reach USD 6 billion in the present year 2011.

China has also invested USD 15.8 billion in 72 business ventures in Burma, including gas and oil pipelines, a deep seaport, an oil terminus, and transportation links related to the Shwe Gas Project that are originating in Kyaukpru Township in Arakan State.

A resident from Kyaukpru said many local residents have lost their livelihoods to the Chinese projects after the Burmese regime forcibly confiscated their arable land for construction of the projects. Locals have also been denied the opportunity to work on the projects because the Chinese companies have brought their own workers from China even for basic jobs such as construction labor.

Despite the investments by China, India, and international companies to develop infrastructure to extract natural resources from Arakan State, many Arakanese are still facing joblessness and an economic crisis in their state. Many are leaving their homeland for Thailand, Malaysia, and other areas of Burma to seek job opportunities.