Burma military ruler Than Shwe will visit China next week, the Chinese government announced Thursday, in another sign of the close ties between the neighbors.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe would make a four-day visit starting Tuesday, with stops in Beijing and at the Shanghai Expo.

Premier Wen Jiabao visited Burma in June, the first trip by a senior Chinese leader in almost a decade.

Than Shwe’s trip comes ahead of elections in Burma in early November, which the junta is portraying as a key step in shifting to civilian rule after five decades of military domination. Critics call them a sham and say the military shows little sign of relinquishing control.

China is Burma’s main ally, giving diplomatic and economic support. Burma’s junta is shunned by the West because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to the winners of the last elections two decades ago.

China is now Burma’s third largest trading partner and investor after Thailand and Singapore, with bilateral trade totaling $2.9 billion in 2009. Up to January 2010, China had invested $1.8 billion in Burma, or 11.5 percent of Burma’s total foreign direct investment.

China’s then-President Jiang Zemin visited Burma in December 2001.

Associated Press