Taliban official in Beijing seeks to deepen economic ties with China

A representative of Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government said to AFP on Wednesday that the country was looking to expand its commercial ties with China.

Taliban seeks economic ties with China: Nooruddin Azizi, the minister of industry and trade, stated, “We will hold discussions regarding investment and having strong bilateral relations with China.

No nation has formally accepted the Taliban rule after the haphazard US troop pullout in August 2021.

However, Kabul has continued diplomatic relations with Beijing, which last week extended an invitation to Azizi to take part in a meeting commemorating the 10th anniversary of its flagship Belt and Road trade and development initiative.

According to Azizi, “We have already signed (a significant number of) projects with China.”

Given its natural resources, which include copper and gold, Afghanistan provides a potentially lucrative contribution to the global Belt and Road effort.

The Taliban administration official described two “mega projects,” namely, the Mes Aynak copper mines and the Qashqari oil production location.

China is more interested in Afghanistan’s growth than any other nation, according to Azizi.

Afghanistan’s formal membership in the Belt and Road was being discussed, he added.

Further, Azizi referred to Afghanistan’s mining and agriculture industries as “a great opportunity.”

“We are content with the way things are going with China.”

Additionally, In a position paper on Afghanistan published this year, China’s foreign ministry stated that it respects the independent choices made by the Afghan people and their religious beliefs and national customs.

In April, Qin Gang, a former Chinese foreign minister, remarked that while she was concerned about how the country’s policies affected women’s rights, “women’s rights is not the whole issue of Afghanistan, nor is it the core or root cause of Afghanistan’s problems.”