Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has addressed world business leaders in Bangkok, on her first international engagement in over 20 years.
In a speech at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, Ms Suu Kyi appealed to investors to think not just of the money they would make, but to consider how they could best help the Burmese people.
She underlined the need to help eradicate corruption and inequality.
Ms Suu Kyi said she was worried about two superpowers jostling for position over her country.
"A lot of people are talking now about what the position of Burma will be now that we are starting to engage ... more with the United States and how it will affect our relations with China," she told reporters.
"I'm always very concerned when Burma is seen as a battling ground for the United States and China.
"It should not be so, it should be an area of harmony for those two big countries," she said.
Ms Suu Kyi added that Burma and China had been "good neighbours" for many years.
Critics accuse China of extracting natural resources at the expense of Burma's impoverished people, and helping to shield the country's former junta from the full weight of international opprobrium at the UN Security Council.
In a rare sop to public opinion, Burma last year halted construction of a $3.6bn Chinese-backed dam project, risking the ire of Beijing, its second-largest trading partner and biggest foreign investor.
The US has sought to build links with President Thein Sein's government, easing some investment sanctions and naming its first ambassador to the country in 22 years, to reward steps towards democracy including by-elections in April.
But Washington has vowed to keep broad sanctions against Burma as an "insurance policy" against "backsliding" on democratic reforms even as it seeks to open up certain types of investment.
Burma occupies a key strategic position between neighbours China and India and its gas, oil, water, wood and precious stones are widely coveted by foreign investors.
