A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said on Monday that China hopes Afghanistan can restore peace and stability “at an early date”.

Addressing a press conference in Beijing, Lu said: "China supports the efforts made by Afghanistan to restore peace and stability."

Responding to a question regarding the Afghan government’s plan to establish a new militia unit to assist the security and defense forces, Lu said: "We will continue to follow the relevant information."

"In principle, I want to say that China hopes that Afghanistan can restore peace and stability at an early date."

This comes after the Afghan government announced it was almost ready to roll out its plan to establish a militia unit, made up of civilians and reserve troops.

Their objective would be to safeguard territory that security forces have retaken from insurgents.

The militia unit will be divided into battalions and will fall under army corps.