Afghanistan is going through a transition period that suggests that important changes are being made in security, socio-political and economic spheres. It is expected that once the transition is over, Afghanistan would be able to stand on its own and would be able to shoulder the responsibilities of the country itself; however, there are major challenges ahead. After withdrawal of international forces, Afghanistan would face two major challenges; the first one is no doubt the security of the country which largely depends on the performance and maintenance of Afghan security forces.

The maintenance of the Afghan security forces would require a large amount of financial and technological help. The second challenge for Afghanistan is no other than its economy. Afghanistan would require almost a decade of economic development after 2014 so as to reach somewhere near the economic independency. The only hope is its mining sector and that would also require a complete infra-structure development and, undoubtedly, a decade of peace and stability.

Though the Western countries have promised and even signed strategic agreements with Afghanistan to support it both in security and economic infra-structure development, the role of the regional countries will be of great importance, as well. Among the regional countries, the relations of Afghanistan with China are going to count much both during the ongoing transition period and in the post-2014 scenario, as China is the most powerful country in the region and is counted among the major international economies.

It is important to see that the relations of China with Afghanistan are on very friendly terms and China has been showing great importance in having a positive and constructive role in Afghanistan, especially in the economic infrastructure development.

The Sino-Afghan relations started when the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Afghanistan in 1955. However, the major step that played an important role in establishing the relations between the two countries happened to be the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and Vice Premier He Long's visit to Afghanistan in January 1957.

This visit was the first step by the Chinese leadership and had a long-lasting impact on the relations between the two countries. During the visit, the Chinese Premier and Vice Premier met with King Mohammad Zahir Shah of Afghanistan, and held respective talks with Prime Minister Mohammad Daud Khan, Vice Prime Minister Ali Mohammad and Vice Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mr.Mohammad Naim.

The Chinese Premier's visit to Afghanistan enhanced mutual understanding between the two countries and laid a solid foundation for the development of friendly relations between China and Afghanistan. In October 1957, Prime Minister Mohammad Daud of Afghanistan visited China under China's invitation.

During the visit he held meetings respectively with Chairman Mao Zedong, Vice Chairman Zhu De and Chairman Liu Shaoqi of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China. After these two major visits the relations got on the track of harmony and improvement; however, the changes within Afghanistan afterwards, brought about certain changes in the relations.

The most intense of these changes were seen in 1979, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. China refused to recognize the government of Babrak Karmal, installed under Soviet intervention. Although the Chinese embassy remained open under an acting charge d'affaires, diplomatic relations between Beijing and Kabul were all but suspended.

1989, Soviet forces had to withdraw from Afghanistan and as a result Mujahideen guerilla factions installed a new government in 1992, both the countries were on the track to normalize relations but civil war quickly erupted. As armed conflict erupted in Afghanistan, Beijing, because of security concerns, recalled its embassy staff, and diplomatic ties between the two countries were broken off entirely.

The Sino-Afghan relations got another transformation after the downfall of Taliban regime in 2001, when the US intervened in Afghanistan. Both the countries once again got on the path of healthy relations that started in December 2001, when China sent to Afghanistan a working team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which attended the Afghan Interim Administration's foundation ceremony and sent a message of congratulations to Chairman Hamid Karzai.

As a response to the friendly calls from China, in January 2002, Chairman Karzai visited China, and met respectively with Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji. The two sides exchanged the notes of China providing 30 million Yuan of emergent material aid and US$1 million in cash to Afghanistan.

President Jiang Zemin announced that China would provide US$150 million-worth of assistance to Afghanistan for its reconstruction. The 30 million Yuan of emergent material aid had been delivered to Kabul by the end of March 2002. The Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan was reopened on February 6.

After that China has kept on assisting Afghanistan in some way or the other through different aid packages. In 2004, it wrote off 9.6 million pounds in Afghan government debt, while in 2005, it announced a grant of about $15 million to support Afghanistan in rebuilding the country.

In 2006 and 2007, it paid around 160 million Yuan (about $20million at the time) as grant and continued its support in 2008 through a grant of around about $6 million. In addition to providing government aid to Afghanistan, China has also emerged as an important economic partner. In the 2010-11 fiscal year, the volume of trade between the two countries totaled $373 million. By the end of April 2010, China had invested a total of $123 million in a variety of projects, including mining, communications, and road construction.

One of the most important and recent commitments from the Chinese government was made in Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit. Chinese President Hu Jintao after the summit signed a joint declaration for establishing a strategic cooperation partnership. The strategic cooperation partnership between the two countries would make China play a larger role – expanding bilateral trade and investment and deepening the existing Sino-Afghan economic cooperation.

China has always shown great interest in investing in unearthing some of the mineral resources from Afghanistan, which can boost the mining sector of Afghanistan to a great extent. In 2007, the state-owned China Metallurgical Group Corporation won a contract to mine one of the world's largest copper deposits, located in Aynak, just south of Kabul. In 2011 another state-run enterprise, CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation), won rights to drill for oil and natural gas in three fields in the northeastern provinces of Faryab and Sari Pul.

The cooperative and larger role of China in Afghanistan would be very much helpful for the war-torn country in the post-withdrawal era when the international forces would have withdrawn completely. The country would be in great need of assistance in security and economic infra-structure development and China has the capability to offer in both the fronts.
All that is required is a committed and cooperative attitude from the leaderships of both the countries to keep their relations strong and reliable.