A Cyprus-flagged ship laden with 2,500 containers left Tianjin Port late Thursday night for Britain via some other Chinese ports and European countries, marking the opening of a new route between China and Europe.

Vessels running on the new route, which was opened by the China Shipping Corporation Ltd.(CSCL), will start from Tianjin and then stop at Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong cities and ports in Malaysia, Malta, Belgium, Germany before reaching Britain.

The aim of opening the new route is to expand trade growth between China and Europe, said a CSCL official.

Tianjin is the largest port in northern China and the fourth largest in China. The port handled 160 million tons of cargo in 2003.

(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2004)