TIRANA — Profound traditional friendship and sound mutual political trust have laid a solid foundation for further cooperation between China and Albania, Premier Li Keqiang said in a written interview published by Albania’s Daily News newspaper on Dec 15.

On the eve of the third meeting between leaders of China and Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs), which will open on Dec 16 in Belgrade, capital of Serbia, Li gave the written interview to the media of these European countries.

“Friends are like wine, the older, the better,” Li said, citing an old Chinese saying. 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.

“We have always cherished such profound friendship,” said the Premier.

Today, many people in China still remember the historical contribution Albania made to the restoration of China’s lawful rights at the United Nations in 1971, Li said.

Images of the brave female soldiers in the movie “Horizonte te Hapura” (Open Horizons) and the smart navy striped shirts in the movie “Oshetime ne Bregdet” (Echo on the Seaside) left a lasting imprint in the mind of a whole generation of the Chinese people, Li recalled.

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 CEECs, he said.

To produce more tangible results through mutually beneficial cooperation has been a shared aspiration of the peoples in both China and CEECs, Li said. It is also the best way to carry forward bilateral traditional friendship.

The launch and development of the China-CEEC cooperation platform have added a new dimension to the relations between China and these countries and injected a strong impetus to bilateral cooperation, Li noted.

Both China and Albania are working to seize such historic opportunities to actively advance the practical cooperation in transportation and energy. The Belgrade meeting will outline a more detailed blueprint for future cooperation and open an even wider door for win-win cooperation, said Premier Li, responding to the questions on potential cooperation raised by the Albanian newspaper.

“We are ready to work with Albania to beef up the momentum and make new progress in both the China-CEEC cooperation and the cooperation between China and Albania,” Li stated.