Panic-stricken residents caught up in armed clashes along the Myanmar border have begun to return from China to their homes in Myanmar as the situation calms down, a senior Chinese police officer said Sunday.

Meng Sutie, police chief in southwest China's Yunnan Province, said 37,000 border inhabitants comprising both Burmese and Chinese have so far fled into China after armed conflicts in Myanmar broke out last week.

One Chinese citizen was killed and two others injured by three shells that were fired into the Chinese territory. The conflicts in Myanmar have also killed a Chinese and injured 13 others in that country, Meng said.

Myanmar had apologized for the Chinese casualties after the China side made a stern representation, Meng said.

The Yunnan provincial government and the Lincang city government have settled those fleeing the conflicts. They have provided thousands of tents along with food, drugs and other humanitarian aids for the border residents.

More than 13,000 of the 37,000 border inhabitants fleeing into China have accepted aids from the Chinese government, while others have gone and live with their relatives and friends. Some Chinese citizens who worked or did commerce in the Kokang area in Myanmar have returned home, Meng said.

"We hope that Myanmar could ensure the security of the lives and property of Chinese citizens in Myanmar," Meng said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Friday that China hoped Myanmar could properly solve its domestic issues and safeguard the stability of its border with China.

The conflict arose from confrontation between Myanmar government forces and an ethnic army in the Kokang area of Shan state in northeastern Myanmar. Kokang shares a border with Yunnan and has a population of about 150,000.

(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2009)