Afghanistan

Note: This column mainly includes countries along the Belt and Road and countries that have signed cooperation agreements with China on Belt and Road Initiative.

In 2013, the strategic and cooperative partnership between the People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan further deepened. The two countries enjoyed growing strategic mutual trust and sustained progress in cooperation across the board. The Chinese government supported the process of peaceful reconstruction in Afghanistan and continued to provide assistance to Afghanistan to the best of its capability.

The two countries maintained the momentum of high-level exchanges. In September 2013, Afghan President Hamid Karzai paid a state visit to China and attended the opening ceremony of the fifth Euro-Asia Economic Forum (EAEF). During the visit, President Xi Jinping held talks with President Karzai, and Premier Li Keqiang and Vice Premier Wang Yang had separate meetings with him. The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of shared interest, and reached broad consensus. The two sides issued the Joint Declaration Between the People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on Deepening Strategic and Cooperative Partnership and signed the Treaty Between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on Extradition. In August, Afghan President's National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta visited China and had separate meetings with State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. In September, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasoul on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Economic cooperation and trade between the two countries was further strengthened with a growing momentum in two-way trade. China took an active part in the economic reconstruction of Afghanistan. In 2013, China continued to provide free assistance to Afghanistan, and Afghan projects with Chinese assistance were advancing steadily.

The two countries enjoyed sound cooperation in defense, security and other areas. Afghanistan has stayed committed to the one-China policy and consistently provided strong and valuable support to China on issues relating to Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang.

China made constructive efforts to facilitate the settlement of the Afghan issue through multiple means. In April, the Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan Zhou Li attended the Almaty Ministerial Conference of the Istanbul Process. China announced that it would host the fourth Foreign Ministerial Conference of the Istanbul Process in 2014. The China- Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral dialogue continued to move forward. The third round of dialogue was held in Kabul in December. The Chinese delegation attended Afghanistan-related dialogues such as the meeting of Chinese, Russian and Indian senior security representatives on the Afghan issue and the China-Russia-Pakistan trilateral dialogue on Afghanistan. In December, the Chinese Training Course of the China-US Joint Training Program for Afghan Diplomats was successfully held in Beijing.

Source: fmprc.gov.cn