The Chinese Ambassador to Albania, H.E. Jiang Yu and the Trade Counsellor, Mr. Lian Gang during a meeting with AIDA Executive Director, Mr. Genti Beqiri.
FOLLOWBUSINESSALBANIA DIPLOMACY
Promising Prospects for Wider Cooperation By Jiang Yu*
2016 was the year of development and harvesting for the ChineseAlbanian relations. The pragmatic cooperation between the two countries in the political, economiccommercial, cultural exchange spheres has undergone a constant progress and reaped many fruits.
The mutual high-level visits have been frequent and this has increased the mutual political trust between our two countries. Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, Mr. Ji Bingxuan, the State Councilor of China, Mr. Yang Jing , Deputy Secretary of Central Committee for the Disciplinary Inspection of the Communist Party of China, Mr. Zhao Hongzhu have visited Albania respectively; In the meantime, the Speaker of Parliament of Albania, Mr. Ilir Meta visited China, the Albanian Prime Minister, Mr. Edi Rama met his Chinese counterpart Mr. Li Keqiang in Riga at the annual meeting of the leaders of the " 16+1" Cooperation Initiative; the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Culture, Health, the President of the Albanian High Court, all paid visits to China. During these friendly exchanges and mutual visits, eight agreements in the fields of diplomacy, culture, water resources, twinning of cities, human resources, economy, technology and local exchanges were signed, which have paved the way for all-around, fast and healthy develop-
ment of bilateral relations between China and Albania in the new era. The good political relations between our two countries have laid a solid foundation for further promotion of pragmatic bilateral cooperation in economic-commercial field. In 2016, the Chinese-Albanian economic and trade exchanges have increased steadily, cooperation on big projects between the two countries has marked a breakthrough. After the smooth completion of acquisition of Mother Teresa International Airport and the Bankers Company by Chinese investors, China has become a major investor in Albania, something that will serve as a healthy example and precedent for both sides for the growth of economic and commercial cooperation in the future. At present, talks are under way regarding some projects in which Chinese enterprises are interested. Unprecedented opportunities of development loom in the horizon of the traditional Chinese-Albanian friendship. China will continue to encourage its entrepreneurs to *Ambassador of the Republic of China in Albania
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February 2017