Beijing set to offer Taliban tariff-free trade – The Tribune

China will offer the Taliban tariff-free access to its vast construction, energy and consumer sectors, Beijing’s envoy to Afghanistan said on Thursday, as the ailing resource-rich but diplomatically-isolated regime looks to build up its markets.

The impoverished country could offer a wealth of mineral resources to boost Beijing’s supply chain security.

Selling Afghanistan’s lithium, copper and iron deposits to feed China’s enormous battery and construction industries would help the Taliban prop up their economy, which the UN says has “basically collapsed”, and provide a much needed revenue stream.