When the deal-making was finished, Chinese President Hu Jintao just wanted to relax before heading home.

And, when asked where he'd like to go, he chose Crete.

So, when Hu wrapped up his high-level meetings in Athens recently, which included an important agreement calling for the opening of a major European  gateway for Chinese products via the port of Piraeus, he and his entourage headed south.

Like most tourists, the Chinese delegation toured the Iraklion museum and Minoan palace of Knossos. However, after the archaeological site, Hu was taken on a tour of an agricultural cooperative in the village of Peza specialising in the production of olive oil and briefly assisted workers picking olives nearby.

The olive tour apparently had an ulterior motive: Cretan authorities have long tried to crack China's enormous food market and are hoping to start with olive oil.

Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni, who hosted a luncheon in the Chinese leader's honour and accompanied him to the island, stressed that his visit to Crete's cultural treasures is a great honour for Greece.

"I am greatly pleased to be visiting beautiful Crete," Hu said. "From the moment that we set foot on their island's soil, we were enchanted by its long history and we felt the love and the friendship bestowed upon us by the people of Crete."

The Chinese leader noted that Cretan civilisation is a considerable component of ancient Greek civilisation and added that "the ancient civilisations of the east and the west cross each other here and have left valuable cultural heritages."

Chinese president picks Cretan olives

 Furthermore, he said that "the region of Crete is playing a considerable role in local cooperation between China and Greece."   

Hu also referred to the tourism sector: "Given that Crete has rich tourist resources, cooperation between the two countries has great possibilities. The Chinese and Greek people have strong traditional ties. Friendly cooperation has firm foundations."