Iceland’s president has hailed a controversial Chinese investment as a sign of the country’s blossoming ties with the rising Asian power, while alleging that Europe and the US abandoned their north Atlantic neighbour in the wake of its devastating financial crisis three years ago.

“China and India lent Iceland a helping hand in many constructive ways whereas Europe was hostile and the US was absent,” ólafur Ragnar Grímsson told the Financial Times, as he responded to a controversy over the proposed sale of a large tract of Iceland to a Chinese tycoon for an eco-tourism resort.

Some Icelandic politicians and business leaders are concerned the project could be a cover for China’s strategic interest in the country as global warming opens up the nearby Arctic to oil exploration and shipping.