ATHENS - CHINESE President Hu Jintao promised to expand maritime trade with Greece after finalising a US$1 billion (S$1.51 billion) container-port concession deal on Tuesday.

Under the agreement, China's Cosco Pacific will receive a 35-year concession to manage two container terminals at Greece's main port of Piraeus.

The deal, worth 831.2 million euros (S$1.51 billion), prompted protests by dockworkers. The agreement was signed after Mr Hu met Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis for talks.

Mr Karamanlis said Greece will become a key transit point for Chinese goods bound for south-east Europe and the eastern Mediterranean.

'The concession deal between the port of Piraeus and Cosco marks a new and significant chapter in our cooperation ... Greece plays particular importance with its partnership with China and is determined to deepen this relationship,' Mr Karamanlis said.

Dock workers staged a 24-hour strike to protest Tuesday's agreement. Their unions oppose the privatisation of the container terminals and warn that an increased influx of Chinese products will hurt the local market.

Several hundred dock workers protested in central Athens, but were blocked by police from marching to Karamanlis' official residence. The rally ended peacefully.

'There are no guarantees that businesses won't be set up here to process Chinese goods so that they are sold on as products of the European Union,' said Gorgeous Loukoutidis, head of Piraeus port workers. -- AP