The Taliban government of Afghanistan is set to sign an agreement with a Chinese company to drill for oil in the country’s north.
It would be Afghanistan’s first major energy extraction agreement with a foreign firm since the Taliban took control in 2021.
The 25-year agreement emphasises China’s economic involvement in the region.
Taliban officials said on Thursday that security forces had targeted Islamic State group militants who had attacked a hotel frequented by Chinese businessmen.
According to the Taliban, eight IS militants were killed and several others were arrested.
At least three people were killed and 18 others were injured in December’s attack on the Longan Hotel in Kabul, including five Chinese citizens.
“The Amu Darya oil contract is an important project between China and Afghanistan,” said Wang Yu, China’s ambassador to Afghanistan, at a news conference in Kabul.
A Chinese state-owned company is also negotiating the operation of a copper mine in the country’s east.
Afghanistan is thought to be sitting on natural resources worth more than $1 trillion, including natural gas, copper, and rare earths.
However, due to the country’s decades of turmoil, many of those reserves remain untapped.
Beijing has not formally recognised the Taliban administration in Afghanistan, but it has significant interests in the country, which is central to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The BRI, which was launched by Xi Jinping in 2013, provides financing for emerging countries to build infrastructure such as ports, roads, and bridges.
