75 Years of Shared Endeavors, Ushering in a New Chapter Together — Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations Between China and Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania

 

 

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and also the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Bulgaria, Romania and Albania.

At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, we faced internal turmoil and external aggression, with everything waiting to be rebuilt. In that early year, 10 countries, including Bulgaria, Romania and Albania from the Balkan region, recognized the People's Republic of China and established diplomatic relations and gave important support to us. Seventy-five years have passed in the blink of an eye. Over three-quarters of a century, the relationships between China and Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania have withstood the tests of shifting international dynamics. The countries have maintained strong political mutual trust, deepened and expanded pragmatic cooperation, and forged a unique bond of friendship that transcends time and space. The friendship between China and the three countries is becoming more flourishing, bearing fruitful results and showing new vitality in the new era.

—— Exchanges and mutual trust have been continuously deepened. In the 1970s, Albania was the initiator of the draft resolution jointly proposed by Albania, Algeria and 21 other countries. Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania all played an important role in restoring the People's Republic of China's lawful seat in the United Nations. China has always respected the core interests and major concerns of the three countries, supported them in safeguarding national independence and sovereignty integrity and taking a development path that suits their own conditions. In recent years, China's relations with the three countries have been developing positively and exchanges at all levels and in various fields have become increasingly close. With the joint efforts of both sides, China and Romania established a comprehensive friendly cooperative partnership in 2004. China and Albania signed a joint statement on deepening traditional friendly relations in 2009, and China and Bulgaria established a strategic partnership in 2019. During the pandemic, China and the three countries supported each other to tide over difficulties.

—— Mutually beneficial cooperation has been continuously promoted. With the high-quality joint construction of "the Belt and Road Initiative" and the in-depth cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries, the economic, trade and investment cooperation between China and the three countries is gaining momentum. Bulgaria is one of the first Central and Eastern European countries to sign the "Belt and Road" cooperation documents. The trade volume between China and Bulgaria has increased by about 130% in the past 10 years. China is Romania's largest trading partner outside the EU. The bilateral trade volume between China and Romania has exceeded RMB 10 billion for three consecutive years. More and more Chinese enterprises are engaged in infrastructure construction, new energy, business services and other fields in Bulgaria, Romania and Albania. Tianjin Food Group has built a supporting storage base in Bulgaria to build a comprehensive farm. Haier Group invested in the construction of a refrigerator factory with an annual production capacity of 600,000 units in Romania, creating more than 800 posts for the local people. Energy development projects controlled by Chinese companies have been operating stably and are the important taxpayers in Albania. The export of agricultural food products from the three countries to China continues to expand, with red wine, honey and dairy products rich in Balkan characteristics entering thousands of households in China.

—— People-to-people bonds have been further consolidated. China and the three countries formed a common historical memory in their struggles for national independence and resistance to aggression and oppression in the last century. Dr. Ianto Kaneti from Bulgaria traveled across oceans to join the medical rescue efforts on the front lines of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, creating a memorable story of the traditional friendship between China and Bulgaria. China and the three countries began to send foreign students to each other in the 1950s. Movies from Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania once swept all over China. A number of sinologists such as Bora Belivanova, Romulus Budura and Spahiu emerged in the three countries, vigorously promoting the wide dissemination of Chinese culture in Central and Eastern Europe. In recent years, people-to-people exchanges between China and the three countries have flourished. The memorandum of understanding on sports cooperation between the Chinese Olympic Committee and Romanian Olympic Committee, the education cooperation agreement between China and Bulgaria, and the visa exemption agreement between China and Albania have been signed one after another. "Happy Spring Festival" activities in Bulgaria are vibrant, the traditional Chinese medicine center is thriving in Romania, the Chinese martial arts delegation is showing its strength in Albania, and the Confucius Institutes in the three countries have nurtured a flourishing array of students.

The 75 years of development have proved once again that China's friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation with Bulgaria, Romania and Albania conform to the historical trend and serve the fundamental interests of the people. Not long ago, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China focused on further comprehensively deepening reform and promoting Chinese modernization, and made strategic plans for improving the system and mechanism of high-level opening up. It has provided new and greater opportunities for upgrading the quality of pragmatic cooperation between China and the three countries, and will certainly promote deeper and more solid relations between China and the three countries and regional states.

Friends are the fruits of time. In the face of the current complicated new international situation, China will continue to work with good friends and partners including Bulgaria, Romania and Albania to forge ahead hand in hand, open up a better future of bilateral relations, and promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, characterized by harmonious coexistence. Standing at a new historical starting point, wish the friendship between China and Bulgaria, Romania and Albania last forever.

 

 

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Disclaimer：The above content is translated from Chinese version of People's Daily Online. The People's Daily Online version shall prevail.