Greece must sell off assets as part of its EU/IMF bailout. So far, it has attracted more would-be investors from China, Russia and the United States than from the European Union , which is footing most of the country's 240-billion euro rescue bill.
Athens International Airport (AIA), which handles about 13 million passengers a year, is co-owned and managed by Germany's Hochtief AG with a 40 percent stake.
Hochtief wants to sell the stake and recently gave up its search for a buyer.
The Greek state has 55 percent of AIA and aims to sell at least 30 percent.
Shenzhen Airport and Friedmann Pacific Asset Management have expressed interest in buying both Hochtief 's and Greece's stakes, the finance ministry said in a statement.
The two firms are "shaping a business plan and preparing an offer", it said after a meeting of their executives with Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras in Athens.
The ministry said they wanted to turn AIA into a regional hub for southeast Asian airlines and develop its cargo and logistics operations.
Greece has raised just 2 billion euros from asset sales since its first EU/IMF bailout in mid-2010. It has promised to raise 2.6 billion more by the end of the year, mostly by selling gambling firm OPAP and natural gas firm DEPA.
U.S. investment fund Third Point is one of two remaining bidders for OPAP . Russian energy giant Gazprom is seen as front-runner to buy DEPA. China's Cosco Pacific is running a container terminal at Piraeus Port, Greece's biggest, which is also slated for privatization. (Reuters)
