AKIPRESS.COM - Nearly 50 soldiers have been killed in a week of fighting between government troops and Kokang ethnic rebels in Myanmar, state media report.

The Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said air strikes had been used in the response to the flare-up in Shan state, near the Chinese border.

The BBC's Myanmar correspondent, Jonah Fisher, says it is the heaviest fighting in at least two years.

It comes as the government tries to sign a peace deal with rebel groups.

There are reports that thousands of people have been leaving the area to escape the fighting.

China said on Tuesday that some people had crossed over into its southern Yunnan province, and that they were being looked after.