"Thanks to the traditional Sino-Albanian friendship and joint efforts, cultural and artistic exchanges between us have always been very active," Ambassador Zhou said  

“Every poster and film in this archive unfold the old history of Albania and display the beauty of light and shadow. What is especially rare is that the precious documentaries of the China-Albania friendly exchanges are still preserved here. Art has eternal value and history always deserves respect,” Chinese Ambassador Zhou Ding has said during the ceremony of handing over donations to Albania’s Central State Film Archive which was followed by an historical documentary on the friendship between Albania and China on Wednesday.

"The last visit has left a deep impression on me and I have since felt admiration for the deep and diverse culture of Albanian cinematography and Albanians’ love for the artistic cultural heritage of the country," said Ambassador Zhou as quoted by CRI International Albanian.

Over the years, the Chinese Embassy has donated moisture control equipment to the Archive and funded a project to renovate its temperature control system to protect these precious materials.

"I feel honored and proud that our Embassy can contribute to the preservation of the national memory and cultural heritage of Albania,” he said.

Further on Beijing’s top diplomat to Tirana said that China and Albania are countries that value their history, culture and traditions while adhering to the characteristics such as openness, tolerance and inclusiveness characteristics that should be the important principle of exchanges between countries and civilizations in the post-pandemic era. "Thanks to the traditional Sino-Albanian friendship and joint efforts, cultural and artistic exchanges between us have always been very active," Zhou said.

The Ambassador recalled that the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Albania was marked last year and on that occasion many Chinese artistic groups came to Albania. In the meantime, according to him, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Albania has increased by 20 percent. He revealed that the Albanian Central State Film Archive has established cooperation with the National Film Archive of China.

"We expect to deepen the cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and all Albanian cultural institutions, to promote the flourishing of the cultures of the two countries, as well as mutual recognition between our two peoples after this pandemic. I am confident that the Film Archive will play a special role in this area,” said Ambassador Zhou.

For her part the Minister of Culture of Albania, Elva Margariti said that the cultural exchanges between Albania and China are rich in connotations and close cooperation. “I sincerely thank the Chinese Embassy for supporting many cultural projects in Albania. This assistance to the State Film Archive will effectively promote its transformation into a museum open to the public and to better protect and promote these precious film art materials."

The Director of the Central State Film Archive, Iris Elezi, thanked the Chinese Embassy in Tirana for its support and dwelt on the development situation and plans of the institution she heads. Ms. Elezi also expressed readiness to work closely with the Chinese Embassy and use the advantages of the Film Archive to explore the historical sources of the Sino-Albanian friendship in an effort to bring closer the two countries and strengthen the spiritual ties between the Albanian and Chinese people through art.

The ceremony of the handover of the equipment donated by the Chinese Embassy was followed by a documentary on the history of Sino-Albanian friendship based on video materials from the Archive. With the help of modern technology, the scenes of friendly exchanges in various fields between the two countries in the 60s and 70s of the last century brought back vividly to the audience those years filled with passion.