On April 26, State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met with visiting Afghan Vice President KHALILI in Beijing.

Tang said that China and Afghanistan are neighbors linked by mountains and waters and China has been following the situation of Afghanistan closely. At present the domestic political, economic and security situation of Afghanistan is turning for the better and the peace process in the country progresses steadily, of which we feel very glad. After years of wars and chaos, peace in Afghanistan is hard win and deserves to be cherished. To take a peaceful road of development is the common aspiration of all the Afghan people and all the other countries in the region and of great significance to promoting regional peace, stability and prosperity.

Tang stressed that China always respects the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and the development road chosen by the Afghan people independently. We support the active efforts made by the Afghan government and people to realize national reconciliation and post-war reconstruction and expect to strengthen bilateral cooperation in various fields of economy and trade and security and in international issues so as to make greater contributions to peace, stability and development of Afghanistan.

KHALILI said that Afghanistan values the support and assistance extended by China very much and the two peoples will be good friends from generation to generation. Afghanistan is willing to actively push for the deeper development of bilateral ties.