Forty-seven Burmese soldiers have been killed this week in fighting with ethnic minority insurgents near the border with China, the military has said.

The fighting and heavy casualties are a setback for government efforts to forge a nationwide ceasefire and end insurgencies that have bedevilled the country since shortly after its independence in 1948.

The clashes in north-eastern Shan state between the army and a group called the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance army (MNDAA) have alarmed China, which fears an influx of villagers fleeing violence and called this week for peace on the border.

On Friday, the military also said 73 soldiers were wounded in clashes this week. It gave no further details but the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Thursday that the military had carried out five air strikes against rebels. Officials from the MNDAA were not available for comment.

Burma’s reformist, semi-civilian government, which took power after 49 years of military rule, wants to implement a nationwide ceasefire agreement with all rebel factions.

The government has agreed truces with almost all of the groups but clashes do occasionally flare up.

An official in an alliance of ethnic minority factions, which has been discussing the nationwide ceasefire with the military, said the clashes near the Chinese border did not bode well for the talks.

“Because of the fighting, negotiations will have some difficulty,” said Nai Hong Sar, vice-chairman of the United Nationalities Federal Council, which represents 11 minority factions.

The MNDAA was formerly part of the Communist party of Burma, a powerful China-backed guerrilla force that battled the Burmese government until the group splintered in 1989.