Myanmar is subject to wide-ranging sanctions by Europe and the United States, which both criticised as a sham elections last year under a "road map" to democracy and hand-over of power from a military junta.
Myanmar's new civilian government wants greater engagement economically and diplomatically with the outside world, China's ambassador to the isolated Southeast Asian nation said ahead of a visit to Beijing by the former Burma's president.
Myanmar is subject to wide-ranging sanctions by Europe and the United States, which both criticised as a sham elections last year under a "road map" to democracy and hand-over of power from a military junta.
But China's ambassador to Myanmar, Li Junhua, told the official Xinhua news agency in an interview carried on Wednesday that new president Thein Sein was much more than just a chip off the old block.
"We have seen a new phenomenon economically, (they) are inducing more foreign investment, expanding foreign trade and strengthening private enterprises," Li said, according to an English-language Xinhua report.
The new government had become "more self-confident and more active diplomatically", he added, citing Thein Sein's recent attendance at a summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
Li said Thein Sein's first speech upon taking office "produced a strong signal to the Myanmar people of all walks of life and the international community, saying that the new government would ... speed up the rate of opening to the outside world".
Li added that Thein Sein "clearly stated that Myanmar's new government will more actively participate in the activities of the international community, especially those of the Association of South East Asian Nations".
Thein Sein is a loyalist of the reclusive former paramount leader Than Shwe, and was number four in the previous military regime.
China is Myanmar's most important diplomatic ally, and the two have strong trade links. Chinese companies have invested billions of dollars in Myanmar, mostly in energy and raw material projects.
Li praised Myanmar's new government, with its "smooth" transfer of power from the military.
"Government at different levels are also operating orderly," he added.
Underscoring the importance Myanmar attaches to the president's Beijing visit this week, Thein Sein will be bringing 10 ministers with him, Li said.
China and Myanmar will sign various agreements during the trip and issue a joint statement that will "be a new breakthrough, a new push in the development of the two countries'' relations and future cooperation", he added, without elaborating.
Myanmar's critics say the military is firmly in control behind a veneer of civilian rule and the government tolerates no opposition despite the release from house arrest last year of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
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