China urges international support for Afghanistan's reconstruction

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in attending a high-level meeting on Afghanistan's reconstruction and regional cooperation here on Saturday, urged the international community to fulfill commitments to supporting Afghanistan's peaceful reconstruction.

The meeting was co-organized by Afghanistan, China and the United States, with the attendance of foreign ministers and senior officials from more than 30 countries and regional organizations.

Speaking at the meeting, Wang stressed that as a war-torn country, Afghanistan is in an initial period of a 10-year transformation process, in which the country faces not only precious opportunities for realizing stability, peaceful development and reconstruction, but also various harsh challenges.

Wang said that Afghanistan's peaceful reconstruction and economic development require the international community to form consensus, provide major guarantee and set the orientation for giving priority.

First of all, the international community should support Afghanistan's national unity government, which has been building national consensus and committed to peaceful development under the leadership of Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.

Secondly, the international community should develop both an internal and an external environment for peace in Afghanistan, and encourage the Afghan government to resume talks with the Taliban and develop good-neighborly relations with Pakistan and other countries.

Thirdly, the international community should help to explore a path for Afghanistan's development with its own characteristics, and provide support in such key fields as institutional and systemic construction, human resources training, infrastructure, agriculture, water conservancy, mineral resources and so on.

Finally, efforts should be made to promote integration of Afghanistan into the international community, and support Afghanistan in deeply participating in international and regional cooperation, in order that Afhganistan will be able to play its due role in inter-connectivity and mutual access, energy, transportation, regional trade, etc.

Wang pointed out China's efforts in helping Afghanistan and stressed that China supports the peaceful "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned" reconciliation process, with willingness to promote Afghanistan's sustainable peace and prosperous development through unremitting efforts.

China has been fulfilling its commitments with concrete actions by providing aid for Afghanistan's major livelihood projects including medical treatment, water conservancy, culture and education among others, and has trained more than 1,000 specialists for Afghanistan in various fields, said the minister.

China has also been actively enhancing multilateral cooperation to achieve synergy in helping Afghanistan, and it has been jointly sponsoring an Afghan diplomats training program with the United States for four years, which will be expanded to the fields of agricultural technology and medical treatment, he added.

Wang also noted that China expects Afghanistan to bring its geographical and resource advantages into full play, take an active part in China's initiatives on building the Silk Road Economic Belt, and promote regional peace, development and prosperity.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry indicated that strengthening of cooperation between the United States and China will be capable of more effectively responding to international and regional challenges including the issue of Afghanistan.

The Afghan national unity government has made great achievements since coming into power. Yet, it is still facing various challenges in maintaining peace and promoting the government's administrative capacity, social development, etc, which requires continued support by all countries to Afghanistan, he said.

Abdullah, the Afghan Chief Executive, and Foreign Minister Burhanuddin Rabbani thanked China and other countries for their contribution to Afghanistan's peaceful reconstruction and social development.

They expressed their hope that the international community will continue to support Afghanistan in fighting terrorism and developing the national economy. Endi