The Taliban’s embassy in Beijing has announced the inauguration and operational launch of a new freight railway line connecting China and Afghanistan.

According to a statement from the embassy, this new route originates in the city of Nantong, China, and is intended to facilitate the transportation of goods between China and the Hairatan port in northern Afghanistan.

On Thursday, the Taliban embassy in Beijing released a statement declaring that the Nantong-Hairatan railway line was inaugurated in the presence of Bilal Karimi, the Taliban’s representative in China; Yue Xiaoyong, China’s representative for Afghanistan; and several Nantong officials, including the city’s mayor and the heads of transportation and foreign relations.

According to the statement, the first journey of the freight train to the Hairatan port has commenced, with an initial shipment of 50 containers expected to reach its destination within the next 20 days.

During his address at the ceremony, Karimi emphasised the Taliban’s prioritisation of economic ties with neighbouring countries, noting that this project could help strengthen economic and trade relations between Kabul and Beijing. He remarked, “As we view China through the Nantong railway line as a gateway to the broader world, we believe that the Wakhan Corridor can also serve as an efficient and cost-effective link between Afghanistan and China.”

The Wakhan Corridor, located in the Pamir mountains of Badakhshan, connects Afghanistan from the northeast to China, Tajikistan, and Pakistan, and provides the only direct route between Afghanistan and China’s Xinjiang or Kashgar region.

The statement also quoted Nantong city officials, who indicated that the process of goods transportation between the two countries will continue.

The Taliban highlighted that this freight railway line was executed under China’s “Belt and Road Initiative.”