Chinese authorities have detained a key suspect in human trafficking cases linked to online scam networks in Myanmar.

Wang Xing, a 31-year-old Chinese actor, travelled to Thailand early this month after receiving an unsolicited offer to join a film that was shooting in the country

Experts warn that China's strategy, focused on the Myanmar military, is failing to protect its own citizens while enabling criminal networks to thrive

China says it has brokered a ceasefire between Myanmar’s military government and a major ethnic rebel group in the country’s northeast.

By Larissa Liao, Kevin Krolicki and Poppy McPherson BEIJING/BANGKOK (Reuters) - The abduction and cross-border rescue had all the makings of the kind of action script struggling Chinese actor Wang Xing had hoped to land – only not as a reality star.

Myanmar's State Administration Council Chairman Min Aung Hlaing has thanked China for its firm support for his country's peaceful and stable development.

This time is different from the first truce last January, analysts say, citing stronger measures from Beijing and a weakened junta The latest China-brokered truce in Myanmar's civil war is likely to hold for now but lasting peace may still be a pipe dream,

The Myanmar military and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) signed a formal agreement for a ceasefire that began on Saturday, China's foreign ministry said, halting fighting near the border of both countries.

The recent kidnapping of a Chinese actor on the Thailand-Myanmar border has turned the spotlight on the international criminal gangs responsible for luring Chinese citizens abroad and forcing them to take part in telecoms scams.

The peace deal comes into effect on the weekend but experts aren't convinced it will lead to hostilities easing across the war-torn country.

"The military is in a state of decline; it is weak and shrinking. The military has seen a wave of desertions, defeats, low morale and loss of dignity."

Security official will remain in Bangkok to continue efforts to rescue 10 other residents stranded in similar fraud centres in region.