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.

It comes as the military junta seeks to sure up support both at home and abroad.Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing embarked on an official visit to China on Tuesday -- the first such trip since his army seized power in February 2021.

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.

SINGAPORE - On Nov 5, Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing set foot on China for the first time since staging a coup in 2021. He was visiting Kunming as a representative of Myanmar in the Greater Mekong Subregion Summit of Leaders, a meeting held every three years involving China, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Beijing has been a major ally and arms supplier of the Myanmar military but last year China sealed parts of the border and halted key imports to rebel-controlled areas when the internal conflict reached its southern borders.