Athens - Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Athens on Monday for an official three-day visit where he will sign a 1- billion-dollar port deal with Greece. The deal, which will be signed on Tuesday, between Hu and Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, will see China's Cosco Pacific Ltd manage two container wharfs at the Greek capital's main port of Pireaus for 35 years.
Workers at Pireaus have said they will block the port in a 24-hour strike on Tuesday in opposition to the deal.
While in Greece, Hu would hold bilateral talks with Karamanlis and President Carolos Papoulias.
Aside from investing in Greece's main port facilities, both countries will look for other ways to forge economic cooperation.
Trade between the two countries reached 2.9 billion euros (3.6 billion dollars) last year, a rise of 52 per cent from 2006. China is now Greece's seventh-largest trading partner.
The Chinese president's trip to Greece follows a regional tour of South America, Central America and Cuba where he sealed trade and investment deals with Costa Rica, Cuba and Peru.
China told the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held in Lima, Peru over the weekend that his government wants to help shore up worldwide growth and reform global financial rules.
