Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Kabul on Wednesday to attend a trilateral meeting with Pakistan and Taliban officials.
It is the sixth round of such talks among the three sides. Wang was accompanied by China’s special envoy for Afghanistan.
Ahead of the meeting, Wang met with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. A statement from the Taliban Foreign Ministry said the two discussed expanding bilateral cooperation in trade, economic ties and other areas.
Muttaqi described relations with China as growing and called Beijing a key trading partner, noting that annual trade between the two countries has reached $1 billion. He urged the creation of joint intergovernmental commissions to follow up on technical and economic issues.
The statement quoted Muttaqi as saying Afghanistan’s territory “will never be used against neighboring countries.”
According to the Taliban, Wang said both sides are working to boost Afghan exports to China. He also expressed interest in Afghanistan’s participation in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative and said Chinese institutions are preparing feasibility studies to expand cooperation on mining projects, with plans to begin extraction this year.
Wang also pledged that “China will continue its political and economic support for Afghanistan,” the statement said.
China’s Foreign Ministry has not yet issued its own account of the visit.
The meeting comes the same day Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also arrived in Kabul to join the trilateral talks.
