Foreign Minister Meets Chinese Counterpart

KABUL, Apr. 14 – Honorable Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the IEA, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Chen Gang in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on the sidelines of the meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries, on Thursday.

In this meeting, bilateral relations between Afghanistan and China, security issues, economic cooperation, regional economic connectivity, increasing Afghanistan’s exports to China and many other regional issues were discussed in details.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed his hope for a good working relationship with his Chinese counterpart, and welcomed China’s new foreign policy regarding Afghanistan, which respects Afghanistan’s independence, national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and religious and cultural choices.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said that China has an important role in the region and Afghanistan is keen to become a good partner with China in terms of economy, trade and investment.

China’s foreign minister expressed that China is ready to help Afghanistan in many fields and the security and stability of Afghanistan is important for China.

Mr. Chen Gang said that China is ready to help Afghanistan join the Belt and Road Project. Mr. Chen Gang added that his country wants to expand trade with Afghanistan, open new air corridors and start importing dry and wet fruits from Afghanistan in the future.

To the end, both sides promised to continue bilateral cooperation on topics of mutual interest.