Myanmar's junta ended its state of emergency on Thursday, ramping up plans for a December election that opposition groups have pledged to boycott.

The military declared a state of emergency in February 2021 as it deposed the civilian government of democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a many-sided civil war that has claimed thousands of lives.

The order gave junta chief Min Aung Hlaing supreme power over the legislature, executive and judiciary -- but he has recently touted elections as an off-ramp to the conflict.

Opposition groups including ex-lawmakers ousted in the coup have pledged to snub the poll, which a UN expert last month dismissed as "a fraud" designed to legitimise the military's continuing rule.

An order signed by Min Aung Hlaing cancelled the emergency rule that had handed power to him as the armed forces chief, returning it to the head of state.

However Min Aung Hlaing also occupies that office as the country's acting president.

"We have already passed the first chapter," Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech in Naypyidaw reported in state newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar on Thursday.

"Now, we are starting the second chapter," he told members of the junta's administration council.

No exact date has been set for the poll, but Min Aung Hlaing confirmed it would take place in December, The Global New Light of Myanmar said.

"Due to the security situation in the country, we will also hold the upcoming election in phases depending on security and management," he said, according to remarks paraphrased on state TV.

China's foreign ministry on Thursday said it "supports Myanmar's development path in line with its national conditions and Myanmar's steady advancement of its domestic political agenda.

It also said Beijing supports "Myanmar's various parties and factions properly resolving differences through political means under the constitutional and legal framework".

In New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed the plan to hold elections "amid ongoing conflict and human rights violations and without conditions including safety and security".

He called for an end to violence, including aerial bombardment of civilians, and for relief workers to be given full access to address "enormous humanitarian needs exacerbated since the 28th of March earthquakes," Guterres' spokesman Farhan Haq told a daily briefing. (Agencies)