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1,000 tons of supplies for winter are packed in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to be dispatched to Afghanistan on November 20, 2021. Photo: VCG

Chinese business representatives in Kabul's Chinatown will hold the first Festival of China Country Commodity Technology Fair in Afghanistan and the second China-Afghanistan business fair since the Taliban took power, according to an organizer on Monday. 

More than 10,000 people from 1,000 Afghan companies are applying to attend the event to find cooperation and purchasing channels with participating Chinese enterprises, according to a statement sent to the Global Times by the China Arab Economic and Trade Promotion Committee on Monday. 

The logistics will be undertaken by four logistics companies in Guangzhou, Tianjin, North China's Shanxi Province, and Central China's Henan Province, with Pakistani re-export companies and Afghan customs clearance companies also involved, the statement said. 

The fair has been supported by multiple official departments and government officials in Afghanistan and Chinese business representatives from various sectors have been invited to the events, the organizer said. 

Many Afghan businesses have approached representatives at the Chinatown seeking to purchase commodities and cooperate in constructing factories and infrastructure as well as in mining, the statement said, citing a Taliban official.

The statement also said that the safety of Chinese enterprises will be ensured, and many Chinese participants will be central enterprises, state-owned enterprises, trade companies and manufacturing enterprises. 

After the US' chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan after two decades of war that left the country greatly damaged, China has been providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan and encouraging cooperation when the conditions permit.

At a press conference on Monday, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on all sides to support the Afghan people in exploring a development path that suits their national conditions, adding that the US' irresponsible withdrawal has left a deep humanitarian crisis for the Afghan people. 

Global Times