COSCO Container Lines has launched a weekly liner service between Quanzhou Pacific Container Terminal in Quanzhou in eastern China's Fujian province and Nagoya, Japan, writes Keith Wallis in Hong Kong.

The transit time is four days between Quanzhou and Yokohama where cargoes can be transhipped to more than 30 inland points in Japan.

The port rotation is Quanzhou, Xiamen, Yokohama, Tokyo, Nagoya, Hong Kong and Huangpu.

The new service was inaugurated four months after affiliated company Cosco Pacific announced plans to take a 71% stake in Quanzhou Pacific Container Terminal, which operates four berths at the port in the Shihu district of Quanzhou.

The terminal company plans to build a new container berth capable of handling 100,000 dwt vessels and a multi-purpose berth capable of handling 50,000 dwt vessels.