Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra met Myanmar's junta chief on the sidelines of a regional summit in China on Thursday, in a rare overseas trip by a general grappling with a civil war at home.

Instead, they invited him to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province to Myanmar’s north, for a small regional summit hosted by Li Qiang, China’s premier. But their real purpose is to prod him to lay out plans for fresh elections in 2025.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang pledged to support Myanmar’s government during a rare sitdown with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, a sign Beijing is seeking to stabilize a regime losing ground in a worsening civil conflict.