The Kyaukpru seaport, especially jetty No 1, in Arakan state has been renovated by the junta to allow Chinese cargo ships using the port for transporting Chinese goods for the gas pipeline project, to harbour, said an engineer.

“The renovation of the jetty started this month. Its length will be extended to 600 feet. The previous jetty did not allow foreign ships to harbour. The renovation is intended for Chinese ships,” he said.

Kyaukpru, in Rambree Island in Arakan, now becomes an important place on the Arakan coast for despatching gas and oil to China through pipelines.

The Chinese National Petroleum Corporation, CNPC, has been constructing the pipeline in the area since September 2009.  

The pipeline is to extend from Madeira Island in Kyaukpru and is to run through Arakan state, Magway division, Mandalay division and Shan states and enter China in Ruili in Yunnan province.

“The Chinese company began construction of the gas pipeline in our area and many cargo ships come to Kyaukpru transporting equipment related to the gas pipelines. So the jetty needs to be modernized to harbour cargo ships,” he said.

The Chinese will transport gas from Arakan as well as oil from Africa and the Middle East countries through the gas pipelines using the Kyaukpru harbour.

The pipeline will allow China to shorten the time of oil deliveries from the Middle East by cutting out the need for oil tankers to travel through the congested Malacca Straits.

China is Burma's fourth-largest foreign investor with a total investment of 1.3 billion dollars. Bilateral trade between the two neighbours reached 2.6 billion dollars in 2008.