China: No tax on 98pc of imports from Afghanistan

KABUL (Pajhwok): Ninety-eight percent of imports from Afghanistan will be allowed to enter China tax free, says the foreign ministry in Beijing.

The ministry said Foreign Minister Wang Yi held out the assurance at a meeting with his Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi.

The ministers met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tashkent on Thursday, both Kabul and Beijing confirmed.

Wang renewed China’s support for extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor into Afghanistan, said a statement on the website of the Chinese foreign ministry.

According to the Global Times, China is ready to share development opportunities with Afghanistan and welcome imports of quality Afghan products.

The Chinese minister hoped to see an inclusive and broad-based government in Afghanistan. He believed the Taliban administration would combat all terrorist outfits.

China has waived off tariffs on 98 percent of imports from Afghanistan, and commends its stance on drug control, according to the report.

Wang promised his country would continue to ask the US and its allies to lift their “unreasonable sanctions” and discharge their responsibility for Afghanistan's economic reconstruction.

For his part, Muttaqi welcomed Chinese aid in the wake of a recent earthquake that rattled Afghanistan’s southeastern provinces of Khost and Paktia.

He assured his interlocutor that the Taliban government would not allow Afghan territory to be used for anti-China activities.

PAN Monitor/mud