GenZedong

In 1960, the Soviet Union ceased its aid to Albania, while China continued to provide vigorous assistance to Albania. In the spring of 1961, China provided hundreds of thousands of tons of grain and 250 million RMB in loans to Albania, and from 1954 to 1978, China provided more than 10 billion RMB in loans to Albania. Geng Biao, who was China’s ambassador to Albania, recalled: "China provided Albania with more than nine billion RMB in loans, and each Albanian could receive an average of four thousand RMB (at this time, China’s per capita annual income was only two hundred RMB). China helped Albania build a fertilizer plant with an annual output of 200,000 tons, far more than what Albania needed. China’s military aid to Albania exceeded Albania’s defense needs, but Albania took it for granted. “What you have, we must have,” Hoxha once said unabashedly. We ask for your help as a brother asks for his brother’s help. "When Vice Premier Li Xiannian visited Albania, he asked, “China has given you so much aid, when do you plan to return it?” The Albanians said they hadn’t thought about that question. Mohammad Ismail Shehu told Li Xiannian that Albania needed steel mills like China’s, a machinery industry, and Chinese help in developing offshore oil fields. China was not rich, and even food was scarce, but China still tried its best to provide assistance to Albania. Geng Biao recalls, “Driving on the roads in Albania in a car, the poles all around were built with high-quality steel pipes with Chinese aid, steel and cement were used to build martyrs’ monuments, and fertilizer that exceeded the demand was casually thrown on the ground.” Zhou Enlai’s security guard Qiao Jinwang recalled, "Albania visited China in 1961 because they believed that the aid given by China was not enough and that more was needed. The Albanians could not understand China’s difficulties during the Great Leap Forward and the two sides had a very unpleasant talk. China believed that Albania needed to learn to stand on its own feet. But China still ended up giving Albania five pieces of aid in 1962. "After 1969, China wanted to ease relations with the Soviet Union and normalize relations with the United States. Albania denounced China as a “revisionist country”, which made Mao Zedong angry. However, in 1970, Albania still asked China for 3.2 billion RMB in aid, and China decided to provide a low-interest loan of 1.95 billion RMB. Albania asked China for a loan of 5 billion RMB for the period 1976-1980. China thought that it had already given Albania a huge amount of loans and therefore agreed to provide only 1 billion RMB. In 1978, China announced the termination of aid to Albania. In the same year, Albania declared China as its main enemy.