COSCO Piraeus bid back on track

Many have speculated that meeting these obligations will drain the country's remaining cash. The delegation's visit to Beijing has been widely interpreted as a financing trip.

Zhen Hong, secretary-general of the Shanghai International Shipping Institute, said that it is highly probable for COSCO to win the bid, because there has been a significant change in the Greek government's attitude. A winning bid will also bring COSCO more profits through its port management activities, which would be welcome at a time when bulk cargo rates remain sluggish globally.

COSCO Pacific, a subsidiary of COSCO Group and the fifth-largest container terminal operator in the world, has invested 4.3 billion euros on a 35-year management lease for the two piers at Piraeus Port, which it has been operating since June 2010. It was expected to create 1,000 jobs locally. The throughput capacity of the port was also expected to increase by 2.5 times.

COSCO Group's operating revenue last year exceeded 66 billion yuan ($10.62 billion), up just 1.15 percent year-on-year. The group said that it had only eked out that gain with a rapid response to market changes by adjusting its allocation of global shipping capacity and improving its regional route network.

Piraeus is the biggest port in the Mediterranean, with an annual capacity to handle more than 3.16 million 20-foot equivalent units, the size of a standard container.

Piraeus is also a strategic partner for various multinational manufacturing giants such as Hewlett-Packard Co and Huawei Technologies Co.

Zhong Nan contributed to this story.