A high-profile attempt by China to break into the European transport infrastructure market has turned into a fiasco after Poland cancelled a controversial highway contract with a Chinese company midway through construction.
China Overseas Engineering Group (Covec) was awarded the contract to build a 50km stretch of the crucial highway between Warsaw and the German border in 2009, after presenting a bid so low that rivals took allegations of price dumping to Warsaw and Brussels.
It was the first Chinese company to win such a large European highway contract and had hoped to use the project as a calling card to gain other business in the region.