Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Albanian counterpart Edmond Haxhinasto vowed on Wednesday to further expend and deepen bilateral relations between the two countries.

Yang, who was on a one-day visit to Albania at the invitation of Haxhinasto, said China and Albania would become not only good friends of mutual trust, but also good partners with mutual benefits under new circumstances.

He said China and Albania needed to do more to promote personnel exchanges at all levels to enhance understanding of each other, and to promote trade and economic cooperation between the two sides.

"China is accelerating the implementation of the strategies on diversifying China's foreign trade markets and encouraging Chinese enterprises to go global," Yang said.

"And Albania is committed to expanding exports and attracting foreign investment. Businesses of our two countries can be complementary to each other," he said.

Yang stressed that China appreciated Albania's adherence to the one-China policy, saying the two countries should strengthen cooperation on regional and international issues of common interests.

Haxhinasto said ties between Albania and China had developed smoothly in recent years. Bilateral trade enjoyed a rapid growth, and cooperation in other fields was also facing a good opportunity, he said.

He said Albania appreciated China's long-time assistance, adding that further developing ties with China was of strategic importance for Albania.

The Albanian foreign minister said he hoped the good political relations between China and Albania could lead to closer cooperation in the fields of trade, energy resources, infrastructure, finance and others.

He highly praised the active role China played in international affairs, saying that China had made important contributions in safeguarding world peace and stability.

During his stay in Albania, Yang was also scheduled to meet with Albanian President Bamir Topi, Speaker of the Parliament Jozefina Topalli, and Prime Minister Sali Berisha.

(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2011)