BEIJING, July 4. /TASS/. The Chinese government welcomes Russia’s official recognition of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday.

"First of all, China welcomes the latest stage of development in relations between Russia and Afghanistan," she said at a news briefing in response to a question from a Western journalist on Beijing's reaction to Moscow's official recognition of the Afghan Taliban government.

Mao recalled that China maintains good-neighborly relations with the Afghan side. She noted that the Chinese government "has always believed that Afghanistan should not be isolated from the international community."

"China speaks for boosting contacts between the international community and the interim Afghan Government," the diplomat continued.

Mao Ning also called on Afghanistan to "actively respond to the concerns of the international community," pointing out the importance of providing joint support to Afghanistan in the country’s reconstruction and development.

She confirmed that Beijing backs Afghanistan’s fight against terrorism and its contribution to maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

"No matter what changes have taken place inside Afghanistan or beyond its borders, relations between China and Afghanistan have held," Mao stated. "After the formation of the interim Government of Afghanistan, the foreign policy missions of both countries located on each other's territory continued to operate normally and that played a positive role in the development of bilateral interstate relations."

"China will continue to pursue a friendly policy towards the entire Afghan people, support exchanges and cooperation with Afghanistan in all spheres and maintain development in new areas," she added.

On July 3, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Moscow had formally recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Later that day, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko accepted credentials from Gul Hassan, Afghanistan’s new ambassador to Russia. The ambassador arrived in Moscow on July 1.

On April 17, the Russian Supreme Court granted a plea from the prosecutor general to suspend the ban on the Taliban's activities in the country. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced the removal of the Taliban's status as a terrorist group, paving the way for building a comprehensive partnership with Kabul in the interests of the Russian and Afghan peoples.