More than 20,000 people from Myanmar have fled across the Chinese border into Yunnan to escape recent fighting between ethnic rebel armies and the Myanmar military, Beijing said March 9, Irrawaddy and the South China Morning Post reported. China is providing humanitarian assistance and working to stabilize the region, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Stray shells and bullets have fallen into Chinese territory, he said, injuring at least one local resident and causing property damage. Earlier this week, at least 30 people were killed during an attack by fighters with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), a predominantly ethnic Chinese force , in Laukkai, the capital of Shan state's Kokang region. The powerful ethnic armies controlling resource-rich territories along the Chinese border in Myanmar will continue to challenge the government's peace plans .