China is willing to lift bilateral cooperation with Albania to a new high in the coming century through joint efforts, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said in a meeting with Albanian President Rexhep Meidani in Beijing Tuesday morning.

China deeply treasures its traditional friendship with Albania, which is quite familiar to the Chinese people, Zhu noted, saying that good cooperation has already been conducted in political, economic, military, cultural, and other sectors.

Albania took the lead in supporting the restoration of China's legitimate seat in the United Nations, and has always observed the "one China" policy by neither establishing nor conducting official contacts with Taiwan, the premier said, and expressed appreciation for this.

Meidani said the Albanian government's position of developing friendly cooperation with China is steadfast. China, while making overall achievements during the past 20 years, has also been playing an increasingly important role on the world stage, he noted.

With the current visit, the president said, he wants to convey the friendly feelings of the Albanian people for the Chinese people, and also to promote bilateral cooperation in all fields, especially the economic and trade sectors.

Considering the present situation in Albania and the Balkan region, economic and trade cooperation is of great importance to both countries, he said.

The president said Albania's economy is advancing actively, and expressed the hope that economic and trade cooperation will expand.

Zhu expressed pleasure over Albania's progress in economic construction, saying that China is willing to reinforce economic cooperation with Albania in a bid to further upgrade the level of cooperation.