Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet the foreign ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Thailand during the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation forum in Myanmar.
It will be the first high-level visit from Beijing since the Myanmar military dislodged the civilian government from power.
The meeting which will run from 2 to 5 July is considered a significant gesture by Beijing to further strengthen the with five riparian countries amid increasing political pressure and provocations by the US and its allies.
The US held its first meeting with five countries in September 2020 when the region witnessed an unprecedented drought-like situation when water levels fell downstream on the Mekong. The US blamed 11 China-built upstream dams for the situation, but Beijing rejected this accusation.
Originating in China, the almost 3,000-mile Mekong River meanders through five other countries - Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia - and sustains more than 60 million people along its course.
Besides strengthening ties between China and Mekong countries, Wang's visit also comes at a time when Myanmar's shadow national unity government, representing political parties, announced that it intends to establish parallel defense forces with more than 100,000 members to launch "offensive strikes" against the Junta forces.
Last week, the unity government said its People's Defense Forces is ready to go from "guerrilla warfare to offensive strikes". Any escalation in violence may seriously damage China's joint projects and other investments such as a deep port project, and an liquefied natural gas project.
China is also developing the Kyaukphyu deep-sea port that would give the country direct access to the Indian Ocean to the mainland using Myanmar's territory.
Beijing has maintained its ambivalence to the internal political situation of Myanmar, saying it would help in safeguarding sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity "no matter how the situation changes".
In April during a meeting in Beijing, Wang conveyed to Wunna Maung Lwin, the junta's Foreign Minister, that China "has always placed Myanmar in an important position in its neighborly diplomacy" and wants to forge a China-Myanmar community with "a shared future".
The shadow national unity government issued its strong displeasure as it decried China for "such a partnership with the illegitimate military regime".
Since April, local media reported increased attacks on Chinese projects in Myanmar by anti-regime armed resistance groups.
The Myanmar Junta has been conducting peace talks with armed groups to stabilize the situation since early June. Myanmar has 21 ethnic armed organizations, 10 of which accepted the invitation to join the peace talks.