China and Myanmar reached a production sharing contract in Nay Pyi Taw on Monday to produce nickel in Myanmar's northern Mandalay division.

The contract was signed between the China Non-Ferrous Metal Group Company Ltd (CNMC) and the state-run No. 3 Myanmar Mining Enterprise under the Ministry of Mines.

According to the contract, the two sides will carry out the major undertaking in the division's Tabeikkyin metal mining plot.

The Chinese investment project in Myanmar's mining sector stands the latest over the past few years.

Myanmar official statistics show that foreign contracted investment in the country's mining sector amounted to about US$534.19 million as of the end of 2007 since the country opened to such investment in late 1988.

The foreign investment accounted for 3.6 percent of US$14.736 billion of the country's total foreign investment.

Other foreign firms engaged in mineral exploration in Myanmar include those from Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Russia.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2008)