China Offers Taliban Tariff-Free Trade
China's ambassador to Kabul announced that his country would provide the Taliban with tariff-free access to Chinese markets, including the construction and energy sectors.
China's ambassador to Kabul announced that his country would provide the Taliban with tariff-free access to Chinese markets, including the construction and energy sectors.
"China will provide Afghanistan with zero percent tariffs for 100 percent tariff lines," Zhao Xing wrote on social media platform X on Thursday.
China has sought to expand its ties with the Taliban since the group took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, but like all countries, it has refused to formally recognise the group's government.
Under Taliban control, Afghanistan offers abundant mineral resources to Chinese companies.
Meanwhile, the sale of Afghanistan's lithium, copper and iron reserves to the world's largest commodity buyer will help the Taliban bolster its weak economy and provide a much-needed revenue stream.
Late Thursday, China's ambassador to Afghanistan, Zhao Xing, posted a photo of his meeting with Abdul Kabir, the Taliban's deputy prime minister, on his official X account, saying, "China will provide zero percent tariffs to Afghanistan for 100 percent tariff lines."
According to Chinese customs data, Afghanistan exported $64 million worth of goods to China last year, nearly 90 percent of which was pine nuts. The Taliban has said that they are looking to attract foreign investors willing to help diversify Afghanistan's economy and exploit the country's mineral wealth.
Afghanistan did not export any goods to China last year, but since his appointment last September, China's ambassador to Kabul has regularly posted photos of meetings with Taliban officials in charge of mining, oil, trade and regional communications.
Several Chinese companies operate in Afghanistan, including China Metallurgical Co. Ltd. which has held talks with the Taliban government about a large copper mine in Logar.
At a September summit in Beijing attended by more than 50 African leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that goods entering his country's $19 trillion economy from "less developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China" from December 1 would not be subject to import tariffs.
The Taliban's embassy in China has not commented on the Chinese ambassador's remarks in Kabul.
Last October, Afghanistan's acting commerce minister told Reuters that the Taliban wanted to formally join China's Belt and Road Infrastructure Initiative.
The Taliban has also called on China to allow the group to be part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a $62 billion connectivity project that connects China's resource-rich Xinjiang region to Pakistan's Gwadar port.
