TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA)– The officials of China and Taliban discussed the current humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, economic reconstruction, and progress in China's humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, as well as bilateral cooperation.

Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Liu Jinsong and Director-General of the Third Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Afghan Interim Government on Thursday co-chaired the first meeting of the China-Afghanistan liaison mechanisms at the working levels for humanitarian assistance and economic reconstruction via video link, China's Foreign Ministry reported.

Officials from Afghanistan's Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, Ministry of Public Health, and the Afghan Red Crescent Society, as well as China's National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Commerce, China International Development Cooperation Agency, Ministry of Natural Resources, General Administration of Customs, Red Cross Society of China and other relevant departments, attended the meeting.

China and Afghanistan are good neighbors, good friends, good partners, and good brothers, Liu Jinsong said in the meeting, adding that an Afghan poem goes, "A stone can be turned into a gem and a blade of grass into a lilac if we have a heart-to-heart affinity and walk hand in hand with one another."

"Today, we are holding the meeting of the liaison mechanisms at the working levels for humanitarian assistance and economic reconstruction to jointly implement the consensus reached at the China-Afghanistan high-level meeting in Doha, comprehensively review the progress of bilateral cooperation in relevant fields, jointly solve the problems encountered in the process of cooperation, discuss the direction of cooperation for the next step and jointly embark on the road to common prosperity," he said.

RHM/PR