Afghanistan and China on Thursday held discussions on a range of issues, including the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investments after a delegation from the Central Asian country paid a visit to Beijing.
The meeting was chaired by Liu Jinson and Zakir Jalali - the former heads the Asian Department in the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the latter is a director in the Taliban's* Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Talking about the Belt and Road Initiative, Kabul said that progress was now moving towards "practical cooperation" after Afghanistan desired to join China's global infrastructure development project in 2023.
"Also, both sides talked about the latest developments in increasing the level of oil extraction in Afghanistan and starting the extraction of Logar’s Mes Aynak mine and it was emphasized that plans should be considered to speed things up," the Islamic Emirate's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Apart from an increasing economic partnership between the two countries, China is also assisting Afghanistan in training its civil servants and is offering scholarships to the Asian Islamic state's students.
"The Afghan side welcomed the capacity-building training programs of civil servants in many ministries and agencies of the Afghan government with the support of China. In addition, the Chinese side promised to expand the range of scholarships to Afghan students according to the needs of Afghanistan," the statement added.
*under UN sanctions