On September 14, 2004, Chairman Wu Bangguo of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) met with Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano at the Great Hall of the People.

Wu Bangguo said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 55 years ago, China-Albania relations have been developing with their friendship continuously deepened. Particularly in recent years, although both international and the two sides' domestic situations have greatly changed, the friendship between the two peoples and the aspiration of both sides to develop mutually beneficial cooperation remains unchanged. Top-level exchanges between China and Albania have increased and mutually beneficial cooperation in economy, trade and other areas has shown good momentum for development. The two sides have also conducted active cooperation in international affairs and there are no outstanding issues existing between the two countries. The history shows that so long as the two sides stick to the principles of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and non¬-interference in each other's internal affairs, the bilateral ties will enjoy smooth development and the bilateral cooperation in various fields will see a win-win situation and bring about tangible benefits to the two peoples. China would like to work along with Albania to jointly promote all-round development of the bilateral ties. The NPC of China stands ready to deepen cooperation with the Albanian parliament and make greater contributions to the development of the overall relations between the two countries.

Nano said that the sound relations between the Albanian parliament and China's NPC have offered a solid foundation for development of bilateral ties. Albania hopes to bring Albania-China cooperation into a new stage and enrich the content of bilateral cooperation while carrying on and developing the traditional friendship. He noted that China's development has not only brought about blessing to the Chinese people, but also is very important to world peace and development as well as the region where Albania is in and its people. Albania highly appreciates the active role China has played in international affairs.