TIRANA, Oct. 24 -- The 4th China-CEEC (Central and Eastern European Countries) Forum of Capital City Mayors scheduled here for Friday marks the start of a new era for the cooperation between Albania and China, the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, said on Thursday.

Veliaj made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Chinese delegation headed by Beijing's Deputy Mayor Lu Yan, according to a press release from the Municipality of Tirana.

This is the first time that Tirana hosts the Forum, an initiative of China which aims to enhance and expand cooperation with CEEC in areas of investment, transport, finance, science, education and culture.

Veliaj stressed that the Forum will promote more concrete cooperation between the CEEC participating capital cities and Beijing, and it is an opportunity to increase bilateral trade exchanges.

For Lu Yan, the forum aims to bring more cooperation for the benefits of the citizens, as well as strengthen exchanges and cooperation within the China-CEEC framework, especially between Beijing and Tirana.

Lu Yan underlined that Beijing is ready to strengthen cooperation with Tirana and support the implementation of the agreement signed on Thursday.

During the meeting, Tirana's Chamber of Commerce, Trade and Industry signed a friendly cooperation agreement with Beijing International Trade Promotion Council.