Beijing - One person was killed and several others injured after a bomb exploded on the China-Myanmar border, as fighting in Myanmar's Kokang region continued to push refugees into China's Yunnan province, state media reported Saturday.

The bomb was thrown onto the Chinese side of the border, He Yongchun, deputy president of the Red Cross's Yunnan provincial branch, was quoted as saying by the state-run China Daily.

Between 10,000 and 30,000 refugees have crossed over from Myanmar's Shan State into Yunnan's Nansan district in the last few weeks, as fighting between Myanmar government troops and a faction of the local Kokang militia escalated, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said.

"It's difficult to get a real-time update of that number," Yu Chunyan, deputy press officer with the Yunnan provincial government, told the Global Times newspaper, as refugees continued to cross the border on Saturday.

The refugee influx came after fighting which followed a split in the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), as the Kokang army has been called since it signed a ceasefire with the Myanmar government 20 years ago.

Myanmar troops and Kokang rebels led by Peng Jiasheng clashed on Thursday in Mangpiang Village, near Laogai, according to the Shan Herald News Agency a resistance media that monitors news in the region.

A source close to Peng Jiasheng told the Global Times that several civilians had been killed in the conflict.

Calls to the Red Cross in Yunnan and the provincial government were not answered Saturday.

Seven designated camps on the Chinese side were already full, provincial government spokeswoman told the German Press Agency dpa Friday.

China, which has strong diplomatic and trade relations with Myanmar, urged the country to maintain stability in the border area.

"China is following the situation closely and has expressed concern to Myanmar," the Foreign Ministry said.

Some analysts say the influx of refugees could put pressure on diplomatic and business relations between the two countries.

It could hurt up to 10,000 Chinese doing business in the border area, Song Qingrun, a senior analyst with the Institute of Contemporary International Relations, was quoted as saying by the Oriental Morning Post.

China's oil and natural gas projects in the border area could also be affected, the paper added.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jiang Yu, said that Beijing "asks Myanmar to protect the safety of Chinese citizens in their country, and their legitimate rights and interests."

The Kokang, who are ethnic Han Chinese, are one of a dozen ethnic minority groups who were previously fighting the Myanmar army for the autonomy of their region before agreeing to a ceasefire deal. (dpa)