BEIJING: Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi was to meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday in her first major foreign trip since becoming the country's de facto leader, with a suspended Beijing-backed dam project set to dominate talks.
Myanmar sees its giant neighbour -- and largest trading partner -- as its biggest foreign policy preoccupation.
Resumption of the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam will be a priority for China, while Suu Kyi seeks Beijing's cooperation for talks with armed groups operating near the countries' shared border, officials said.
Beijing was instrumental in shielding Myanmar's former junta rulers from international opprobrium while Suu Kyi languished for years under house arrest as a democracy activist.
At the time Myitsone was seen as emblematic of China's economic dominance over Myanmar. In 2011 a quasi-civilian government halted the project in a surprise move after local protests, and Beijing has been pressing for its resumption ever since.
"China definitely will discuss about (Myitsone) as it is their main interest," Kyaw Zeya, DG at Myanmar's ministry of foreign affairs told AFP.
As well as Li, Suu Kyi is due to hold talks with China's President Xi Jinping during her trip, which began Wednesday.
On her first visit to China last year, she faced calls to raise the case of her fellow Nobel laureate Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo -- sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for circulating a petition calling for democratic reforms -- but did not do so.
Beijing staunchly objects to foreign leaders criticising its rights record, and few expect her to do so this time.
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