Cooperation between China and Myanmar on energy entered a new phase on Monday evening, after a tanker carrying 140,000 tons of crude oil started to offload at Made Island oil port in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state.

The transport of the crude oil came after the leaders of the two countries oversaw the signing of a China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline transmission agreement. 

On Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Myanmar counterpart U Htin Kyaw in Beijing, where the leader of the ASEAN nation said Myanmar is willing to actively join the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. 

The two countries vowed to uphold the principle of mutual respect and win-win cooperation to promote the sustained, healthy and steady development of bilateral relations and cooperation, including border security and economic issues.

As a part of the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project, the oil pipeline has been under construction since June 2010, when the two countries celebrated the 60th anniversary of their establishment of diplomatic relations. The pipeline has been designed to handle 22 million tons of crude oil per year.

In Myanmar, the crude oil pipeline starts in Made Island, extending for as long as 771 kilometers before ending in Kunming, in China's Yunnan Province. This new oil trading route will link China with Central Asia and Europe, and will provide a more direct alternative route to sending Middle Eastern oil via the crowded Malacca Straits and Singapore.‍

Once the pipeline is put into operation, Myanmar will also be provided with two million tons of crude oil via the pipeline every year.