Chinese companies eye investment in Afghanistan: Embassy
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Beijing has been maintaining friendly ties with the Taliban-led government after US forces withdrew from Afghanistan.
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meeting Taliban leadership last summer (Chinese MFA)
The Afghan embassy in China said, on Thursday, that Chinese companies are interested in investing in Afghanistan, most notably, its mining infrastructure and the energy sector.
Sayed Mohiuddin Sadat, the acting Afghan ambassador to the Taliban reportedly met with representatives of several major Chinese corporations, including the aluminum company Chinalco, Beijing Engineering Corporation, and a Power China subsidiary.
Delegation members indicated an interest in making investments in Afghanistan's railways, energy, and water sectors as well as its robust mining infrastructure, as per the statement.
The Aynak mine, a copper deposit about 25 miles southeast of Kabul, is where the Afghan-Chinese project will get underway, according to acting Afghan minerals and petroleum minister Shahabuddin Delawar in April.
China shares a 76-kilometer border with Afghanistan; however, China has feared for many years that Afghanistan could become a springboard for terrorists during the US occupation of the country.
It is worth noting that Beijing has been maintaining friendly ties with the Taliban-led government after US forces withdrew from Afghanistan.
Read more: A New Geopolitical Dawn in Central Asia
Afghanistan has lately been hit by the deadliest earthquake in 20 years. The country demanded Biden to unfreeze 7 billion dollars worth of Afghan assets, which his administration will be splitting among families of 9/11 victims. None of the 9/11 terrorists were Afghan.
Read more: China: The United States Destroys, Rather Than Rebuilds
In addition to contributing to the development of Afghanistan, China has aided the country with food, winter materials, Covid-19 vaccines, and medicines worth 200 million yuan.
The Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has lately signed a contract with the Chinese Metallurgical Group Corporation to mine copper.
Read more: Too weak to crawl: Afghan children face the risk of starving to death
![In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had "engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)](https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/12/21/b4a69f2e-8682-43e4-9d37-49482b304ab3/3.png?v=2&format=webp "In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had \"engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)")
