Myanmar's embattled junta chief arrived in China Tuesday -- his first reported visit since leading a coup in 2021 -- but analysts say the invitation is only a lukewarm endorsement from his key ally and could backfire.

Myanmar's state media says the head of Myanmar’s military government will pay an official visit this week to China, the embattled Southeast Asian nation’s most important international ally.

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will travel to key ally China this week, both countries said Monday, in his first known trip there since seizing power in a 2021 coup.

Since the coup Myanmar has been in chaos, including areas along its border with China, as an armed resistance movement combined with established ethnic minority militias to wrest control of large territories from the military government.

The delegation is known to include Shwe Than Lwin Group’s Kyaw Win, as well as Xiao Sen, who was behind a shady, now-suspended development project in Yangon a decade ago.