A Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar held talks in China with foreign minister Wang Yi on Wednesday, Hindustan Times reported.
This comes against the backdrop of growing concerns in Beijing over the activities of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) that seeks to establish a Uyghur state.
There was no word on the meeting from the Chinese side or the Taliban. Several images of Wang with the Taliban delegation, which included spokesman Suhail Shaheen, were posted on social media.
Baradar met Wang in the northern city of Tianjin, the South China Morning Post reported citing sources familiar with the arrangements.
This is the first time a senior Taliban leader has visited China since the group launched a massive offensive to capture territory across Afghanistan, coinciding with the rapid drawdown of US and NATO forces. China has hosted a Taliban delegation in 2019 that met Deng Xijun, then the special envoy for Afghanistan.