The presence of Hu Jintao, Chinese president, at yesterday's contract signing ceremony in Athens highlighted the importance to Beijing of controlling a trans-shipment hub in the east Mediterranean. The deal is also a landmark for Greece's centre-right government, which claims to have pulled off the country's biggest foreign direct investment to date.

Piraeus Port Authority, the state-controlled operator, has struggled to attract international container companies because of limited handling facilities and poor labour relations.

Cosco Pacific, China's state-controlled container operator, has undertaken to invest €620m ($787m, ￡525m) to upgrade an existing terminal at Piraeus and build a new facility to handle larger ships capable of carrying 10,000 TEUs (20ft equivalent units). Cosco would operate both terminals under a 35-year concession agreement with PPA that would triple capacity to more than 3m TEUs annually and create up to 1,000 jobs.