China vows to support building a terrorism-free Afghanistan

Xinhua

China on Wednesday vowed to continue its aid to Afghanistan in building an independent, peaceful and prosperous country without terrorism and illicit drugs. "We hope to enhance cooperation with Afghanistan in such areas as resource exploration, infrastructure building, energy and human resource," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a press briefing. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in Beijing to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. Afghanistan is expected to be accepted as an observer state at the summit. "It (the acceptance as observer state) will contribute to closer cooperation between Afghanistan and the SCO in security, economic and social areas," said the spokesman. He said China will continue to back Afghanistan's efforts in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity, promoting peace and development. Liu said the SCO has convened several consultations and meetings regarding the Afghanistan issue since 2009, and nailed down cooperation plans. "The SCO will continue to back Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts and hopes to play a greater role in the process," he added. The SCO was founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, and currently has six full members -- China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and India are four observer states, and its dialogue partners include Belarus and Sri Lanka.