[Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his AFP interview in Paris. (Photo: AFP/Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt)]

KABUL: China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Kabul on Thursday (Mar 24), a week before Beijing hosts a meeting of Afghanistan's neighbors to see how they can help the country following its takeover by the hardline Islamist group, AFP reported.

 
"Chinese Foreign Minister arrives in Kabul for talks with Islamic Emirate leaders," tweeted Ahmad Yasir, a top Taliban government official. Yi arrived in Kabul from Islamabad where he attended a two-day meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

China shares a rugged 76km sliver of a border with Afghanistan, but Beijing has long feared its neighbor could become a staging point for minority Muslim Uyghur separatists from Xinjiang. Even before the Aug 15 takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, Beijing sought to maintain ties with the group as US-led forces withdrew.