Rewrite: In its foreign policy, Beijing gives priority to economic interests, and although it does not want to undertake unilateral and extensive economic costs in Afghanistan, by taking into account the economic opportunities and threats, it has begun supporting the construction of the Uzbekistan-Pakistan cross-border railway through Afghanistan, and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan Corridor Agreement.
Over the past 18 months, China has practically supported the expansion of CPEC to Afghanistan (as part of the BRI). This has become more obvious in the form of China’s positions, including bilateral agreements and declarations with the Taliban, the China-Pakistan agreement, and trilateral agreements between China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
In cooperation with Pakistan, China is trying to strengthen its economic position in Afghanistan and expand common interests in the country based on win-win principles.
Afghanistan’s joining the BRI means strengthening Pakistan’s transit routes, especially Gwadar Port and the Trans-Afghan ‘Mazar Sharif – Kabul – Peshawar’ corridor. However, this has been hampered by disagreements concerning the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement. Trade and transit potential has consequently been reduced as a result.
Under the deal, cargo was sent to Afghanistan through Pakistan’s Gwadar port on the Persian Gulf. However, if the Karachi-Peshawar route can be built near the Afghanistan border and connects Afghanistan to Peshawar, it will benefit the three actors.
In fact, by supporting and guiding Afghanistan to the path of independent development, or showing economic carrots, China seeks to protect its multi-billion-dollar investments and infrastructure projects of the CPEC project in Pakistan.
In other words, Beijing needs Afghanistan’s active support for BRI. On the other hand, according to the long-term memorandum of understanding of the 25-year contract between Iran and China, China considers Afghanistan to be a puzzle connecting the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. Afghanistan’s inclusion in the BRI promises China better access to Central Asia.
China is planning to gradually begin practical work on some lower-cost projects. The first train from the destination of China and from the route of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to the inland  Hairatan Port across the important Amu Darya River was a step in the implementation of the agreement between Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China.
The January 2023 signing of a contract for the extraction of oil from the Amu Darya oil field with China’s regional Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co (CAPEIC) in an investment worth US$540 million, coupled with a further 200 companies and a wave of Chinese businessmen to Afghanistan are other steps in line with the increasing presence of BRI in Afghanistan. In fact, in the short term, China sees Afghanistan as a potential destination for future long-term investment through its aid to Afghanistan, the opening of a Chinese air corridor, and the exemption of more Afghan products from customs duties.
China is aware of the risks of investing in Afghanistan and sometimes even considers it an economic operational loss; but considers Afghanistan’s natural resources to be a great economic opportunity in the future. Therefore, the extraction of the important Mes Aynak copper mine (the second largest copper mine in the world, 25 km south of Kabul), Afghanistan’s lithium mines and coal reserves are all under commercial and extraction investigation. The lithium found in Afghanistan is a crucial component of large-capacity batteries for electric vehicles and clean-energy storage systems.
It is possible the operations in the Mes Aynak project, itself worth several billion dollars, could start in the late spring of 2023.