AIIS, Chinese Research Institute discuss cooperation projects

TIRANA, Oct. 14 – China’s Euro-Asian Social Development Research Institute’s first visit to Albania this week at the invitation of the Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS) was an opportunity to discuss current relations and find new ways to boost economic and cultural cooperation.
In a round table held at AIIS premises on Thursday, the Chinese delegation led by the Institute’s Secretary General Li Shaojie was informed by AIIS executive director Albert Rakipi on Albania’s views to further develop diplomatic, economic and cultural relations, discussing concrete cooperation projects that could be held with the AIIS, a non-governmental, non-profit research and policy institute established 12 years ago.
Both AIIS and China’s Euro-Asian Social Development Research Institute described the first official visit to Albania as an important moment to launch concrete cooperation projects between the two research centres.
Once Albania’s main ally under communism until the late 1970s, China is today one of Albania’s main trade partners especially for imports.
The Chinese delegation also visited representatives of the Albanian Media Institute, the Albanian Council on Foreign Relations, and deputy Foreign Minister Edith Harxhi before concluding their two-day visit in a meeting with Minister for Innovation and IT Genc Pollo scheduled for Friday morning.
The main function of the Euro-Asian Social Development Research Institute is to undertake the follow-up analysis and research on political, economic and social developments as well as foreign political and economic relations of the countries in the Euro-Asian regions, and on the interactions between the development of these regions and the development of the global politics and economy.