The Foreign Ministry Tuesday said it was the common responsibility of China and Myanmar to safeguard the stability of their common border.

"Safeguarding the stability of the China-Myanmar border is in line with the vital interests of both people and is the shared responsibility of both governments," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.

Referring to recent unrest in Myanmar's Shan province, Jiang said: "We hope the situation will calm down as soon as possible and Myanmar border inhabitants who fled to China can return to their homeland at an early date," Jiang said. She said some of those who had crossed the border into China's Yunnan Province had already returned to their homes in Myanmar.

About 37,000 border inhabitants crossed the border into China after armed conflict broke out last week in Myanmar.

Jiang said China and Myanmar were friendly neighbors and China hoped Myanmar would maintain peace and stability.

"Based on humanitarian principles, China took active rescue and relief measures to help Myanmar border inhabitants settle down," Jiang said,

"We hope Myanmar can resolve its domestic issues and take all necessary measures to restore order and stability in the border area," she said.

The situation originated from a standoff between Myanmar army troops stationed in Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang region, and ethnic minority forces in the area, on Aug. 8. Armed conflicts triggered a large outflow of border inhabitants into neighboring Yunnan Province's Nansan area.

(Xinhua News Agency September 1, 2009)