Afghanistan and China pledged a new long-term partnership with each other as the new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani began an official visit to Beijing on October 28.
"We look at China as a strategic partner, " Ghani his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a meeting at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
Xi said he was prepared to work towards "a new era of cooperation in China –Afghanistan relations" to "take development to a new depth and breadth."
China is a key investor in Afghanistan, which has an estimated $1 trillion worth of mineral resources, and has secured major oil and copper mining deals there.
Afghanistan and China share a 76-kilometer border between the remote, mountainous Wakhan Corridor and China's far western Xinjiang region.
Ghani took office in September after a lengthy election dispute.
His first trip abroad was a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia on October 25.
Based on reporting by AFP and AP
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