China inks major deal, returning as key partner

China wants to invest $10 billion for infrastructure projects in Central and Eastern Europe; Albania signs major infrastructure deal, hopes for more.
TIRANA, Dec. 18 – Albania has signed an agreement with China to obtain financing from Beijing on a series of large investments, including the construction of a major highway over the mountains of eastern Albania that would significantly cut travel time between Tirana and Skopje.
The agreement, a memorandum of understanding between the Albanian government the state-owned Chinese Exim Bank, was signed as a leaders’ forum between China and the wider region took place in Belgrade, seen as a turning point for China’s engagement in the region.
The agreement is part of a $10 billion commitment by Beijing for infrastructure investments in Central and Eastern Europe. In Albania, China is to finance and work on a series of projects — primarily in infrastructure and agriculture.
“The first project that will open up a new era of cooperation between China and Albania will be the Arber Highway, on which construction will start next year,” Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a statement.
China brought together 16 government leaders from Southeastern and Central European countries in Belgrade for a third regional summit of its kind, headed by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang.
Beijing has increased its presence and influence in the region over the past few years, investing in key infrastructure projects like a major bridge over the Danube, inaugurated in Serbia this week, and it also plans to build a high-speed rail line linking Belgrade with Budapest.
In Albania, the Chinese are also interested in major transport arteries, as well as the country’s natural resources.
There has been talk of increased economic cooperation between Albania and China for years, but the Arber Highway will the largest project of its kind since China helped build large industrial works during Albania’s communist era, when the two countries had a long and tight friendship in the 1960s and 1970s.
Meeting in Belgrade, the Albanian and Chinese prime ministers said they hoped to build on that cooperation.
“Friends are like wine, the older, the better,” Li said, citing an old Chinese saying.
A special relationship
Albania and most of other countries in Central and Eastern Europe established diplomatic relations with China in the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, which gave China invaluable support. Albania’s staunch diplomatic efforts to help China get a seat at the United Nations in 1971.
Then-communist Albania continued that strong relationship with Beijing especially after breaking ties with Soviet Union. Albania then broke ties with China in 1978, as Beijing pursued a more open relationship with the West. Communism fell in Albania in 1991.
The profound traditional friendship and sound mutual political trust have laid a solid foundation for further cooperation between China and Albania as well as other CEE countries, said Chinese premier.
He added Chinese investment further increased ties between the countries of the region as well.
Rama said Tuesday that they had already signed an agreement on funding the Rruga e Arberit that will establish closer links with neighboring Macedonia. He did not specify the amount of the Chinese investment, but the road is estimated to cost more than $250 million.
Other ongoing talks include linking the Albanian railway system with the regional one and funding industrial zones.
Both countries agree that the new development with China’s presence in Eastern Europe has added a new dimension with those countries.
The Belgrade meeting is expected to outline a more detailed blueprint for future cooperation and open an even wider door for win-win cooperation, said Li.
“We are ready to work with Albania to beef up the momentum and make new progress in both the China-CEE cooperation and the cooperation between China and Albania,” Li said.
Only recently both countries celebrated in Tirana 65 years of the bilateral diplomatic ties in a conference organized by the Albanian Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Albania.
The Albanian Post Office issued a postage stamp, with the view of the center of Tirana, which was taken by China’s first satellite launched in the space.
Looking for investments
Prime Minister Rama focused on seeking more cooperation in agriculture and increased Chinese investment in energy and infrastructure during meetings with the Chinese side and his counterpart.
According to Rama’s press office statement the Chinese government has also “expressed the desire to increase agricultural imports from Albania, as well as to enhance Chinese companies’ investment in energy production and infrastructure development, which will not only help Albania, but also connecting with the main axes in the Balkans and Eastern Europe.” The announcement does not specify if talking about concrete projects.
An analyst writing for German public broadcaster DW recently pointed to the unease the Chinese incursion into the Balkans has caused in Brussels, but ultimately the countries see the Chinese investments as win-win.
Beijing says its goals are economic. Chinese investments open up large markets for goods into Central and Eastern Europe, officials have pointed out.
“Everything will be conducted in accordance with the policies that are valid in the European Union,” Premier Li said during his trip to Belgrade. “China supports the European Union, EU integration processes and a strong euro.”
A more relaxed Belgrade visit
Because the China summit was being held in Belgrade it meant Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama traveled to the Serbian capital for the second time this year, following an earlier tense official visit over Kosovo and a suspended football match between the two countries.
This second visit offered a much more relaxed setting, media coverage of the event showed. Rama had a meeting with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic in the sidelines of the summit.
They discussed closer trade and economic relations between the two countries.
“Prime Minister Rama stressed the importance of extending this cooperation in the field of regional infrastructure development,” Rama’s office said in a statement.
The Serbian prime minister’s office said the two spoke about joint projects that would enable the attraction of European Union funds to the region.
In another important deal signed between the two countries, there will now be mutual recognition of driving licenses. Serbian Interior Minister Nebojۡ Stefanovic and Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure of Albania Edmond Haxhinasto signed the deal on the sidelines of the China summit.
Prime Minister Rama told a Serbian television station that a partnership between Albania and Serbia would be a very important signal for cooperation between the countries of the Balkans.
“Serbia is not an enemy of Albania,” Rama said. “It is a potential great ally.”