China to send $81.4 mn aid to Afghanistan this year
October 31, 2014, 1:09 pm

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (3rd L, front) and other guests pose for group photos ahead of the opening ceremony of the fourth ministerial conference of the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 31, 2014 [Xinhua]

China will provide funds amounting to 1.5 billion yuan ($244 million) over the next three years for training programs in the war-torn country, said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at a global conference on Afghanistan held in Beijing on Friday.

“Firm support for Afghanistan’s peaceful reconstruction should be concrete action instead of verbal commitment,” Li said at the “Istanbul Process on Afghanistan”.

Inaugurated in 2011, the Istanbul Process is the only Afghanistan-centered cooperation mechanism led by regional countries.

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani met President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders in Beijing on his first visit abroad since his September inauguration.

“That you have made a visit to China when not even one full month into your presidency, making China your first visit abroad, fully embodies the high degree of emphasis you put on China-Afghanistan relations. I am willing to work with you on a new era of cooperation in China-Afghanistan relations and take development to a new depth and breadth,” Xi told Ghani on Tuesday.

The world’s second largest economy has said it would step up bilateral cooperation in infrastructure construction, agriculture, water conservation and mineral resources with the aid-dependent country.

The international community should not interfere with Kabul’s internal affairs and support Afghanistan’s efforts to realize security and stability, Li said.

Chinese companies have made major investments in Afghanistan ranging from a $3 billion investment at a copper mine at Mes Aynak to China National Petroleum Corp’s project to develop Afghanistan’s Amu Darya basin.

TBP and Agencies