(240623) -- PAKTIA, June 23, 2024 (Xinhua) -- Staff members pack pine nuts at a pine nut processing factory in Paktia province, east Afghanistan, June 20, 2024.

Once primarily used as a home-heating fuel, pine trees in eastern Afghanistan have become a cash cow for local villagers, with an average annual export of 5,000 tonnes of pine nuts, mostly destined for neighboring China.

TO GO WITH "Afghans crack open opportunity from China-bound pine nut trade" (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)