China, the greatest regional power, was not in the picture for influence in Afghanistan for many years. However, over the last four years it has been trying to take its place in the picture. In this regard, China's motive for seeking influence is neither political nor military but for the most part commercial, at least for the time being.In other words, the Chinese are in Afghanistan to make business deals, mainly involving infrastructure projects. In fact, as of 2008 Chinese companies had 33 infrastructure project valued at close to $500 million under way in Afghanistan. They are mainly building roads and railroads. In the past, Chinese companies also built hospitals, other government buildings, irrigation canals and digital telephone installations.
But the biggest project China has undertaken in Afghanistan so far is of course the Aynar copper project. In 2006, the China Metallurgical Group and Jiangxi Copper Group outbid Russia's Strikeforce, Kazakhstan's Kazakhmys consortium and America's Phelps Dodge and won the tender for the development of Aynak for $3 billion.
Due to years of war and factional fighting, Aynak's copper deposits have remained largely untouched since Soviet geologists first surveyed the area in the 1970s. It is in a relatively secure part of the country, the Logar province, south of Kabul. By some estimates, the 30-square-kilometer copper deposit could contain up to $88 billion worth of copper ore. However, there is no power plant in the area that can generate enough electricity for mining and extraction operations. On top of that, there is no railroad, needed to haul away the tons of copper ore that could be extracted.
For this reason, the Chinese copper project includes the building of a 400-megawatt coal-fired power plant and a freight railroad passing from western China through Tajikistan and Afghanistan to Pakistan, together with an open rail route to the north from the mine. As part of the deal, Chinese companies will also build schools, clinics, markets, mosques and other facilities.
This highly risky project would not only help Afghanistan in many ways but also would contribute immensely to the development of western China and its regional links. In fact, this factor may have played a crucial role in the decision to develop the Aynar deposits because in terms of China's great western development program, cross-border connections to Central Asia, South Asia and Iran as well as new energy resources and mining resources are very important.
This month, Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Datfur Spanta visited China to generate interest in oil, natural gas, and iron ore concessions. He and his Chinese counterpart agreed to look into these matters and also to study ways to open up commercial traffic along their 60-kilometer shared border, which is located in a largely inaccessible remote mountainous region. Building a road through this difficult area is, course, the most viable choice. Given their experience and resilience, Chinese infrastructure companies can overcome the inherent obstacles, mainly security threats, to build this road. In fact, Chinese workers and engineers have been killed by insurgents, but apart from some temporary suspensions the Chinese companies continued to work on their projects, in some regions protected by US troops on the ground, which shows some aspect of the interesting relationship between the two powers in Afghanistan.
All of this clearly shows that China is determined to consolidate its commercial base in Afghanistan with further gains in mining and infrastructure projects because it can take more risks than others in these areas.
