On the afternoon of March 24, 2010, Chinese President Hu Jintao held talks at the Great Hall of the People with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is here in China for a state visit. The two heads of state agreed to enhance exchanges, expand cooperation and make joint efforts for developing the comprehensive cooperative partnership of good-neighborliness, mutual trust and friendship for generations between the two countries.

Hu said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 55 years ago, bilateral relations have withstood the tests of changing international situation and have been developing continuously. In recent years with the launch of Afghanistan’s peaceful reconstruction, both sides have kept closer exchanges at high and other levels, he said, pointing to rapid resumption and development of exchanges and cooperation in all areas and enhanced communication and coordination in international and regional affairs. The establishment of China-Afghanistan comprehensive cooperative partnership has injected new vitality into and opened up broad prospects for bilateral ties in the new period. China respects the development road chosen by the Afghan people in accordance with their own national conditions and will as always support Afghanistan’s peaceful reconstruction as well as its efforts to safeguard state independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Karzai expressed gratefulness to China for the support and assistance it had given Afghanistan since the establishment of diplomatic ties, in particular in the past eight years during his presidency. Afghanistan’s peaceful reconstruction has made new progress and achievements thanks to the help from the international community and China. He said Afghanistan was honored to have China as a friend and a neighbor and was ready to further expand comprehensive cooperative partnership with China.

Hu said that China is ready to work with Afghanistan in the following five aspects to build the comprehensive cooperative partnership of good-neighborliness, mutual trust and friendship for generations. First, both sides should strengthen exchanges, build up friendship and consolidate mutual trust in the political area. The leaders of the two countries can make use of various occasions to maintain regular meetings and contacts. Both sides should continue to support each other on major issues of mutual concern. Second, both sides should advance pragmatic cooperation for mutual benefit and common development in the economic and trade area. China is ready to discuss new cooperation programs with Afghanistan based on the already-implemented cooperation projects, increase mutual investment, maintain steady trade growth and promote bilateral cooperation in the areas such as agriculture, water conservancy, mining and infrastructure construction so as to enhance the quality and level of the cooperation. Third, both sides should stay firmly rooted in the present while looking ahead to the future and deepen cooperation in the humanities area. Efforts should be made to expand bilateral cooperation in the areas such as personnel training, education, culture and public health. China is ready to train more professional and technical personnel for Afghanistan’s peaceful reconstruction. Fourth, with regard to security and police affairs, both sides should work closely to fight against cross-border organized crimes and the three evil forces of terrorism, extremism and separatism to safeguard peace and stability of the two countries and this region. Hu told Karzai China attached great importance to the security of its citizens and companies in Afghanistan, urging the country to take effective measures and improve security work to ensure a sound environment for bilateral cooperation. Fifth, both sides should keep in touch and coordinate with each other in multilateral affairs. China appreciates Afghanistan's efforts to improve neighboring environment and push forward regional cooperation, as well as its positive role in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. China also attaches importance to Afghanistan’s unique influence on the reform of the UN Security Council and is ready to further enhance coordination and cooperation with Afghanistan in international and regional organizations to safeguard and promote world peace, stability and development.

In response, Karzai fully agreed with Hu’s proposals on the development of bilateral ties, saying that Afghanistan is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in a wide range of areas including politics, economy and trade, mining, education, training, defense and capacity building. He said bilateral economic and trade cooperation is going smoothly. As China is an important investor of Afghanistan, there is huge potential for bilateral trade. Afghanistan welcomes Chinese businesses to invest and develop in the country and jointly expand bilateral trade. He reiterated Afghanistan's adherence to the one-China policy, adding his country was committed to combating terrorism and extremism to safeguard domestic and regional peace and stability. China has played a crucial role for stability and development of Afghanistan and the whole region. Afghanistan is ready to jointly advance regional peace and stability with China and other countries in the region. Karzai vowed to take measures to ensure the safety of Chinese people and companies in his country.

After their official talks, the two presidents witnessed the signing of several bilateral cooperation agreements.

Prior to the talks, President Hu Jintao held a welcome ceremony for President Karzai at the North Hall of the Great Hall of the People. The welcome ceremony was attended by Vice-Chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Chen Changzhi, State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Bai Lichen, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy Liu Xincheng, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission Zhang Ping, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming and Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Zheng Qingdian.