(MENAFN- AFP) Greece's new left-wing government will halt the privatisation of the country's biggest port Piraeus, which China's COSCO group has bid for, an official in charge of the process said Wednesday.

"We will halt the privatisation of the port of Piraeus and that of Thessaloniki too," the new deputy minister for merchant marine, Theodoros Dritsas, told AFP.

Greece's previous conservative government had planned to sell 67 percent of the port authority. The tender had a March deadline for the submission of offers.

COSCO already has a 35-year concession to expand the two main container terminals at Piraeus.

Beijing reacted coolly to the news, with Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying telling reporters: "We have noted relevant reports and are still checking with the Greek side."

"We believe that both governments have the willingness to push forward practical cooperation in various fields as this cooperation brings win-win benefits and brings benefits to the two peoples," Hua said.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's Syriza party has promised to reverse many of the reforms implemented by the previous conservative government, including a host of privatisations.

Antonis Samaras' administration had backed the reforms as part of the conditions of a 240 billion euro ($269 billion) EU-IMF bailout.