CHINA has pledged 2 billion yuan (US$327 million) in aid through 2017 to Afghanistan and will help train 3,000 Afghan professionals over the next five years.

    The offer of aid followed a meeting Tuesday between Chinese President Xi Jinping and newly elected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Beijing and Kabul also agreed to step up intelligence sharing to fight drug trafficking and other cross-border issues.

    The Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Xi as saying that China is willing to support Afghanistan’s new government, and will help with personnel training as well as developing agriculture, hydroelectricity and infrastructure. The ministry didn’t provide specifics. Chinese development work in Afghanistan has previously been limited by security concerns.

    In the area of security, Ghani expressed the readiness and staunch support from the Afghan side in China’s fight against “East Turkistan Islamic Movement” terrorist forces.

    Ghani was sworn in as the new president of Afghanistan on Sept.29, replacing Hamid Karzai in the first-ever peaceful transition of power in the history of the country. His state visit will last until tomorrow.

    Ghani’s visit to China is his first working trip abroad since taking office at the end of September. The Afghan president recently visited Saudi Arabia to perform umrah, an Islamic pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, as part of a campaign promise.

    (SD-Xinhua)