Cui Tiankai (sixth from left), Chinese Ambassador to the US; Antony J. Blinken (sixth from right), US Deputy Secretary of State; Hamdullah Mohib (fifth from right), Afghanistan ambassador to the US; and Jarrett Blanc (fourth from right), acting special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at Department of State at the opening of the Fourth US-China Training Program for Afghan Diplomats in Washington DC on Wednesday. DONG LESHUO/CHINA DAILY

4th training program by US, China for 15 young diplomats from Afghanistan starts in Washington

The Fourth US-China Training Program for Afghan diplomats started in Washington on Wednesday.

The four-week training program, jointly organized by the Chinese and US governments since 2012, provides 15 entry-level Afghan diplomats two weeks of training in China and two weeks in the US.

"This program has become a good case of China-US cooperation in Afghanistan," Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the US, said.

"I am happy to see that this program has become one of the deliverables on the agenda of the summit between President Xi and President Obama," Cui said.

Wang Yi, foreign minister of China, sent a congratulatory letter to the program.

"The program has enhanced the mutual understanding among China, the US and Afghanistan,

and shows the international community’s support and commitment to Afghanistan’s peace and reconstruction. It is a good model for China-US cooperation in a third country," Wang wrote.

"This is a signature project in cooperation between the US and China," Antony J. Blinken, US deputy secretary of state, said.

"It is one of the many visible ways in which our two countries demonstrate that China and the US have shared interests and shared perspectives on Afghanistan and this

region," Blinken said.

China, the US and Afghanistan will extend the program to the training of Afghanistan’s agricultural and healthcare personnel this year, according to Wang.

The Meridian International Center has been working with the State Department on the Afghan diplomats program.