P & O Containers of Britain has become the second big container shipping company to sign up to use the new deepwater Yantian port in southern China.
P & O is teaming up with Maersk Line to provide a weekly service from Yantian to Europe.
Maersk recently signed a user contract with Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT).
Maersk's parent, A P Moller, will take a strategic stake in YICT, which is managed by Hongkong International Terminals in a joint venture in which it holds a 70 per cent stake.
The service is tentatively scheduled to start next Wednesday using a vessel of 2,800 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units).
Both lines were readying their ships to inaugurate the service, but there were indications yesterday that everything was not going as planned at the Maersk end.
If a Maersk ship was not ready in time, P & O could become the first non-Chinese shipping line to provide direct container service between Europe and China.