China will resume issuing visas to Afghans from August 1 and allow 98 per cent of Afghan imports to enter tax free, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the measures when he met Afghanistan’s Taliban-appointed foreign affairs chief in Uzbekistan on Thursday, according to a statement on the ministry website.

Wang also told acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi that China supports extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor into Afghanistan, the statement said.

He also reiterated a call for the West to stop imposing sanctions against Afghanistan.

Afghanistan’s economy had gone into freefall after the Taliban takeover, with the central bank’s foreign-held reserves frozen, Washington and other donors halting aid and the United States ending deliveries of hard currency.

China has not yet formally recognised the Taliban government.