China called on the US on Monday to unfreeze Afghanistan's foreign assets as soon as possible and stressed that the sanctions aggravate the humanitarian crisis in the country.

During a press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters that "unilateral sanctions, especially Afghanistan's frozen assets overseas, are collective punishment on all Afghans and are worsening the humanitarian disaster" in the country.

He stressed that Afghanistan's frozen assets "should be returned to the real owners as soon as possible instead of being used as a tool for threats and coercion."

Zhao called on the international community to strengthen its cooperation and solidarity to provide assistance and support to Afghanistan in order to improve people's livelihood.

"As Afghanistan's friendly neighbor and sincere friend, China has been providing Afghanistan with help for peace and reconstruction as well as economic development to the best of its abilities," he confirmed.

Last September, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing has decided to provide urgent assistance to Afghanistan worth 200 million yuan ($30.9 million), which includes food, winter goods, vaccines, and medicines.

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in mid-August, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have suspended financial aid that previously accounted for nearly 75% of the country's public spending, while the US has frozen billions of dollars in assets belonging to the Afghan Central Bank.