Despite mounting international sanctions and political isolation, Myanmar’s military junta continues aggressively promoting gemstone sales to China, an essential lifeline sustaining its fragile economic resources. The lucrative ruby and sapphire trade remains pivotal for the military regime’s revenue, even as numerous countries seek to restrict financial flows that support Myanmar’s ruling authorities.
Since the military coup in February 2021, Western nations including the United States and United Kingdom have imposed targeted sanctions against military-owned companies and key sectors, notably aiming to choke off funding streams such as the gemstone trade. However, China remains the primary commercial outlet and buyer for Myanmar’s prized gems, particularly rubies and sapphires from northern mining regions like Mogok.
Myanmar’s military controls extensive ruby and sapphire mines through conglomerates like the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL). These entities, alongside proxy business interests, have sought to formalize and expand exports directly into the Chinese market amid global scrutiny. Large-scale mining and trading networks involve actors tied to ethnic armed groups, Chinese investors, and military affiliates, creating a complex web that straddles legality, ethics, and local conflict.
Recent reports document that the jade, ruby, and sapphire sectors are deeply entangled with ongoing conflict dynamics, abuses, and environmental damage. Mining operations in areas such as Kachin and Shan States are marked by disputes between armed groups and the junta, with frequent allegations of forced labor, extortion, and land degradation from large-scale mining. Nonetheless, gemstone extraction and export continue, providing critical financial inflows to military coffers.
Chinese investors and companies dominate the commercial value chain for Myanmar’s gems. Beijing sees Myanmar’s gem trade as strategically important, leveraging it as part of broader geopolitical and economic interests, despite international concerns over human rights and governance. The Chinese market absorbs much of Myanmar’s gemstone output, illegally or semi-legally, undermining Western-led sanctions.
The junta’s reliance on gemstone sales is also driven by growing economic constraints at home – sanctions have contributed to inflation, currency instability, and diminishing foreign direct investment. With limited access to global financial systems, precious gemstones offer a tangible, high-value commodity that can be traded relatively quickly for cash, helping the regime finance military operations and maintain internal control.
Human rights organizations and watchdogs call for comprehensive bans on imports of Myanmar’s gems, emphasizing that revenues from these stones bolster an oppressive regime implicated in grave abuses. However, without China’s cooperation, such sanctions have only limited effects, given China’s dominant role in regional gem markets.
Local communities bear the brunt of intensified mining, as ecological degradation and contested land rights worsen living conditions. Environmental harm from unregulated or militarized mining is widespread, alongside social disruptions caused by intensified conflict and displacement. Many mining areas remain conflict zones where governance is heavily militarized or controlled by ethnic armed factions.
In summary, Myanmar’s military junta’s push to sustain gemstone sales to China amid sanctions reveals an ongoing struggle to circumvent global isolation. The gem trade continues to represent a critical economic lifeline for the regime but remains mired in conflict, human rights abuses, environmental damage, and geopolitical complexity. International pressure faces significant challenges without coordinated action involving China, which remains Myanmar’s main trading partner for precious stones.
As long as demand in China persists, and military-linked actors control mining operations, Myanmar’s gemstone industry will continue to fuel the junta’s survival amidst widening political and economic cracks.
