Hillary Clinton urged developing nations to be “smart shoppers” when accepting foreign aid from China and other new donors, as she became the first US secretary of state in more than 50 years to visit Burma.

Speaking at a development aid conference en route to Burma on Wednesday, Mrs Clinton warned that emerging economies may be more interested in exploiting natural resources than promoting development.

“Be wary of donors who are more interested in extracting your resources than in building your capacity,” she said. “Some funding might help fill short-term budget gaps, but we’ve seen time and again that these quick fixes won’t produce self-sustaining results.” While Mrs Clinton did not single out any particular donor countries, China is Burma’s largest backer.