US President Donald Trump has named 23 countries as the major drug transit or major illicit drug-producing countries in a 'Presidential Determination' submitted to Congress on Monday.
Last week, in a meeting with Taliban officials in Kabul, officials of Fan China Afghan Mining Processing and Trading Co. announced an investment of USD 350 million in various sectors ranging from construction to health to energy in Afghanistan, according to the Bakhtar News Agency, Afghanist
Fan China Afghan Mining Processing and Trading Company (FAMPTC) has said that it would spend USD 350 million in Afghanistan in the next months in several industries, including electricity generation, the building of a cement factory, and healthcare, reported Khaama Press.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Taliban's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Islamabad last week to hold talks as part of a China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Minister's Dialogue.
Among the issues on the agenda included the terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan. While Pakistan is concerned over the presence of TTP and its affiliates, China wants the Afghan Taliban to neutralise the threat posed by East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), reported The Express Tribune.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, during a meeting with Amir Khan Muttaqi, Afghanistan's Acting Foreign Minister in Islamabad under the caretaker Taliban regime, said China will always stand firmly with the Afghan people and support Afghanistan in pursuing a development
According to China customs data, in December 2022, China imported goods worth USD 9.09 million from Afghanistan and exported goods worth USD 59 million, resulting in a positive trade balance for China of USD 49.9 million, the SRB reported.
After the United States left Afghanistan and Taliban took over the country in 2021, China wanted to fill the power vacuum by heavily investing in the country, the Afghan Diaspora Network reported, adding that now the Taliban has realised China's real intent.
Five men were arrested, including two Chinese nationals by the Taliban over the alleged smuggling of an estimated 1,000 metric tons of lithium-bearing rocks out of the country, local media reported.
Concerned over the potential spillover of militants from Kabul into the country's western Xinjiang, China has stepped in and engaged with the new Taliban government, promising trade and investment, Afghan Diaspora Network reported.