A big forest fire along the China-Myanmar border has been temporarily diverted from China using a 30 meter wide trench, but experts say the blaze will reach China soon.

The fire is still burning and it is highly likely it will spread to the territory of Yunnan Province, which borders Myanmar, blown by strong wind, said a Chinese official in charge of fire-fighting in the region.

The fire broke out between No. four and No. eight boundary markers in Tengchong County of southwest China's Yunnan Province on March 14. Within a single day, the flame approached the Chinese side at several spots.

Some 2,000 forest fire fighters in Baoshan City rushed to the China-Myanmar border to build an isolation belt which is 4,000 meters long and 30 meters wide to prevent the fire to pass across the border.

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2004)