China will facilitate visa requirements for Afghan businessmen, the Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu asserted to the country’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

Following a meeting between the two, the Afghan Foreign Ministry released a statement saying “at the request of Muttaqi, the Chinese side promised to ensure the simplification of the procedure for issuing visas to Afghan entrepreneurs.”

Muttaqi and Yu further discussed bilateral trade, focusing chiefly on the export of Afghan dried fruits to China.

The strengthening of ties between the two has been accelerating in the past few months following the hasty retreat of US troops from Afghanistan. During that time, the Taliban movement managed to seize control of the majority of the country with China keeping its embassy open in Kabul. Closely afterward, Beijing called on member states, during the meeting of G20 foreign ministers, to lift unilateral sanctions against Afghanistan and to end the usage of Kabul’s foreign exchange reserves as a tool of pressure.