China's envoy to the UN Human Rights Council says the U.S. army and the militaries of its coalition partners should be held accountable for potential rights violations committed in Afghanistan.

During a session on reports of alleged Taliban abuses, Chinese Ambassador Chen Xu told the council "The US, UK, Australia, and other countries must be held accountable for the violation of human rights committed by their military in Afghanistan and the evolution of this current session should cover this issue."

The Chinese envoy says "under the banner of democracy and human rights the U.S. and other countries carry out military interventions in other sovereign states and impose their own model on countries with vastly different history and culture," Chen said, adding that this had inflicted "great suffering".

Rights groups such as Amnesty International have previously said that thousands of Afghans have been killed or injured by U.S. forces of which few have been brought to justice.

China, which has not fought in Afghanistan, is considering a working relationship with the Taliban and the group has also said that Beijing can contribute to the country’s economic development. 

Chen added in his speech that "Beijing will continue developing a good-neighborly, friendly and cooperative relationship with Afghanistan and continue our constructive role in its process of peace and reconstruction".

The Taliban says China has played a constructive role in promoting peace and reconciliation and is welcome to contribute to the reconstruction of the country.

Speaking to Chinese media, Taliban Spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, says "China is a big country with a huge economy and capacity - I think they can play a very big role in the rebuilding, rehabilitation, reconstruction of Afghanistan”.