A joint team of Chinese and Myanmar officials Sunday started investigating the bombing that killed five Chinese sugarcane workers in a border village in southern China's Yunnan Province.

A bomb dropped by a Myanmar warplane hit a sugarcane field in the border city of Lincang, killing five people and injuring eight others working there.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei says China has lodged a solemn representation with authorities in Myanmar.

"The Myanmar Government says it feels sad about causing Chinese casualties in the incident, and they will conduct a serious investigation and deal with the incident properly," he said.

Myanmar released a statement on the evening of March 15, saying the government expressed its “deep sorrow for the death and injuries of Chinese nationals living in border areas.”

The Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission has urged Myanmar to punish the perpetrators and apologize to and compensate the families of the victims.

The government of Myanmar has been locked in a battle with the Kokang ethnic minority in the northeast of the country since late last year.

Tens of thousands of refugees are reported to have fled across the border into China since fighting erupted in Kokang on February 9. China’s spokesperson said the conflict had caused a serious impact on peace and stability in the border area and urged both sides to exercise restraint and take China’s concerns seriously.

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