Hu oversaw Tuesday's deal that assigns the running of cargo facilities in Piraeus, one of the main ports in the eastern Mediterranean and Greece's largest, to Chinese port operators Cosco for 35 years.

The Chinese president spent the final day of his visit on the island of Crete, where Chinese trade officials are also looking for management opportunities in the island's harbours that lie near the African continent.

Greece had spent years trying to persuade China of its strategic role as a trade partner, both by virtue of its location on the crossroads between Europe and Asia and as a member of the European Union.

"Greek ports can operate as transit centres for Chinese products to European Union states but also the broader area of southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean," Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said after the port deal was signed on Tuesday between Cosco and the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP).

According to figures released by the Greek merchant marine ministry, the 35-year concession to Cosco will net Greece a guaranteed premium of 3.4 billion euros (4.3 billion dollars) in current prices.

The deal will also boost Piraeus' capacity by 250 percent, generate around 1.5 billion euros in related business per year, create over 800 jobs and earn the Greek state around 2.3 billion euros in dividends and taxes.

The concession is strongly opposed by the Greek dockers' union which has organised several strikes against the loss of state control in Piraeus in past months, and staged a demonstration outside the Greek parliament on Tuesday.

The union fears the new operators will bring large-scale lay-offs, and also argues that the influx of cheap Chinese goods will undermine the already shaky Greek family-owned store sector.

Hu chose to wrap up his three-day visit with a flashback to ancient shipping know-how on Crete, the seat of the ancient Minoan civilisation that was one of the Mediterranean's earliest naval superpowers some 4,000 years ago.

The Chinese delegation visited the Minoan palace of Knossos, a Bronze Age archaeological site that according to legend was the home of King Minos and contained the mazelike labyrinth, lair of the dreaded Minotaur.

The Minoans enjoyed active trade with other Mediterranean cultures but their civilisation took a major blow from a massive volcanic eruption on the Aegean island of Santorini around 1520 BC and a combination of natural disasters and political upheaval completed their downfall some 70 years later.

After the archaeological site, Hu visited an agricultural cooperative in the village of Peza specialising in the production of olive oil and briefly assisted workers picking olives nearby.

Olive oil is one of Greece's major exports and authorities here have long harboured hopes of cracking China's enormous food market.

"We invite you to access the Chinese market," Hu told the head of the agricultural cooperative in an exchange broadcast on Greek state television.

The Chinese president has pledged to help align the Greek trade balance which is massively in China's favour. The volume of Chinese imports in 2007 jumped over 53 percent compared to the previous year.

Hu also visited the archaeological museum of the island's capital, Iraklio, which holds important finds from Knossos and other palaces.

Cosco chairman Wei Jiafu conducted a separate visit to Crete where he toured the ports of Iraklio and Hania and spoke to local officials.

According to port sources, Chinese operators are vying with South Korean competitors for a foothold in both Iraklio and Hania, and a new container terminal planned at Tymbaki in the southern side of the island that faces the North African coast.

Hu was paying the first visit by a Chinese head of state since his predecessor Jiang Zemin in 2000.

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