TIRANA, June 7 – Albania and China are mulling over new cooperation projects as part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative which envisions a new Silk Road of land and sea routes with trading partners.
At a joint economic and trade intergovernmental commission held in China’s Ningbo this week, Albanian and Chinese representatives discussed cooperation projects in the processing industry, agriculture as well as tourism and infrastructure in a bid to further increase trade and investment ties between the two countries, the Chinese embassy in Tirana said in a statement.
A key instrument for economic and trade cooperation, the Albania-China joint intergovernmental economy and trade commission was established almost three decades ago in 1989.
This week’s ninth meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission came four years after the January 2014 Tirana meeting and a time when trade and investment ties between the two countries that were key allies in the 1960s and 1970s have gained new momentum as China, the world’s second largest economy, is emerging as one of Albania’s main trading partners and investors.
Chinese companies have acquired two of Albania’s key assets in the past couple of years and now run the country’s sole international airport and Albania’s largest oil producer, both of which under concession contracts signed with the Albanian government by previous investors.
Earlier this year, the central banks of Albania and China renewed their local currency swap deal for another three years in a bid to further promote trade and investment ties between the two countries.
