Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that his country and
China are "very good neighbors" and hopes to strengthen trade
relations with China.
He made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua before
his departure for Shanghai to attend the 2006 summit of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Thursday and pay his
second official visit to China on June 18-21.
Afghanistan and China are "very good neighbors, very good
friends," said the Afghan president.
"Relations with China have immense importance for Afghanistan,"
he said. "During this visit, I would like to strengthen, deepen and
enhance Afghanistan's relationship with China in many fields of
strategic importance."
China is one of Afghanistan's major trade partners, with China's
export volume to Afghanistan totaling US$317 million in the Afghan
2005-2006 fiscal year, taking the third place after Japan and
Pakistan.
However, Afghanistan's export to China is very limited, with a
volume of US$0.9 million in the 2005-2006 year.
Karzai said, "We would like to export more goods to China, which
is a huge, huge, huge market."
Afghanistan, which shares a 76-km-long border with China, would
benefit from China's growing economic strength, he added.
He said, "Afghanistan belongs to the region where also lies the
SCO. Afghanistan has no other ways, and can't be outside the
region."
The SCO, which was established in 2001, groups China,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It has
accepted India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan at observers.
(Xinhua News Agency June 14, 2006)
