BEIJING:China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that the Chinese side was preparing to hold Third Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the neighboring countries of Afghanistan to exchange views on building lasting peace in Afghanistan. “We are preparing for the Third Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan’s Neighbors so as to harness and contribute our strengths as neighbors for the durable stability and security of Afghanistan, he said while addressing a press conference on China’s foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the Fifth Session of the National Peoples Congress. He said that at present, Afghanistan was in a critical period of chaos and governance and sought support of the all parties for the Afghan people to actively explore a development path in line with their national conditions and in accordance with the principle of “Afghan led and Afghan-owned”. Wang Yi remarked that it was urgent to race against time and speed up the delivery of humanitarian assistance.”We call for the immediate lifting of the freezing of Afghanistan’s assets in the United States and various unilateral sanctions, the unconditional return of assets belonging to the Afghan people, avoid causing harm to the Afghan people, and help Afghanistan survive the cold winter and welcome the spring,” he added. The State Councilor said that China had extended a helping hand to Afghanistan as soon as possible and will continue to provide additional assistance according to the needs of the Afghan people.Wang Yi criticized the United States for withdrawing in haste from Afghanistan, leaving a deep humanitarian crisis for the Afghan people and bringing huge security challenges to regional stability. The second meeting was held in Tehran in October last year. The foreign ministers from China, Russia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan attended the meeting.