Chinese Firm Helping Myanmar Make Bombs Used Against Civilians: Report

A new report by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) has accused a Chinese state-owned defense company of enabling the Myanmar military regime to produce aerial bombs used in attacks on civilians and resistance groups.

The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (abbreviated SAC-M) is an independent advisory group of international experts, to provide an international platform for the democratic movement in Myanmar.

According to the report, titled "Factory of Death: China’s Support for the Myanmar Military’s Production of Aerial Bombs", China South Industries Group Corporation, along with its subsidiaries Hunan Vanguard and Chongqing Changan, has provided ongoing technical support to Myanmar’s Defence Industries 21 (DI-21) factory, located in Seikphyu Township, Magwe Region.

DI-21 is one of 25 military factories operated by Myanmar’s Office of the Chief of Defense Industries (OCDI), and is reportedly responsible for manufacturing most of the junta’s 250-kg and 500-kg bombs, fuel air-explosive (FAE) bombs, and cluster munitions.

Between 2014 and 2019, Chinese engineers allegedly worked onsite at DI-21 and trained Myanmar personnel both in-country and in China. SAC-M claims that technical support and components supply have continued remotely since 2019. It also notes that DI-21 staff are studying at Chinese universities involved in defense research directly linked to bomb production.

“By providing aerial bombs and technical production assistance to OCDI, China South is complicit in the junta’s grave violations against civilians,” said Yanghee Lee, a member of SAC-M and former U.N. Special Rapporteur on Myanmar.

The report comes amid intensifying airstrikes by Myanmar’s military following the February 2021 coup. According to Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government, the junta has conducted over 3,000 airstrikes since 2023, killing more than 3,200 people—including nearly 500 children—by June 2025.

Among the deadliest incidents cited in the report was an airstrike in Pazigyi, Sagaing Region, on April 11, 2023, which killed at least 155 people. Human Rights Watch later concluded the weapon used was likely a thermobaric bomb. Similar weapons were used in a strike on an internally displaced persons camp in October 2023, killing 29 civilians, and again during a battle in Bhamo Township, Kachin State, in January 2025.

SAC-M has urged the United Nations to adopt a resolution imposing a global arms embargo on Myanmar. The group also called for prosecutions of companies providing support to the junta’s arms industry, including those mentioned in the report.

“If China wants to play a constructive role in Myanmar’s future, it must use its influence to stop Min Aung Hlaing from dropping even one more bomb,” said Chris Sidoti of SAC-M. “Disrupting aerial bomb production at DI-21 is critical to saving civilian lives.”