LONDON, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The arrival on the River Mersey Wednesday of a container ship from China's COSCO, could evolve into a permanent call at the owners of the Port of Liverpool.

COSCO's container vessel, MV Jork, docked in Liverpool Wednesday. Within minutes of arriving at its berth in the famous seaport, unloading commenced of mainly high value Asian goods for fast delivery into the supply chain across Britain, said port owners, Peel Ports. It will leave Liverpool with a load of exports for overseas markets.

Peel Ports recently welcomed China Merchant Marine to Liverpool and will shortly receive another state-sponsored visit scheduled for Oct. 23 when 20 delegates from China's Department of Commerce and Jiangsu province, set to explore the port.

COSCO is Asia's largest shipping line, and the third biggest globally.

Peel Ports said Wednesday's call by a container ship vessel from COSCO marks an important milestone for Peel, who will hope the visit will evolve into a permanent Liverpool call, said a spokesman for the port.

Mark Whitworth, CEO of Peel Ports Group, said: "The arrival of the MV Jork at Liverpool is positive news for the Port and is down to the strategic, dedicated approach we've taken to the Asian market in recent years.

"Our relationship with China has been incredibly strong for a number of years now, and the faith shown by COSCO in the capabilities and infrastructure of Liverpool shows how global perceptions of the UK's shipping ecosystem are starting to shift.

"With multimodal access by rail, sea and road to the majority of UK consumers, Liverpool2 is the logical port of call for global lines looking to move their customers stock in the most efficient way."

The Port of Liverpool boasts a consistent truck turnaround time of less than 40 minutes, meaning cargo is expected to be at its final destination hours after discharge on the Mersey.

Peel Ports already has a strong relationship with Shanghai-based crane manufacturer ZPMC, the firm which supplied five ship-to-shore cranes and CRMGs for Liverpool's new 526 million U.S. dollar container terminal, known as Liverpool2.

A delegation from Peel Ports is currently in China to discuss phase two of the Liverpool2's development as it continues to try to attract the world's biggest shipping lines, whilst a senior commercial executive visit to Shanghai will commence on Nov. 5, 2018, added the port spokesman.

In the past 12 months the Port of Liverpool's growth in the container sector has continued growing by 8.7 percent.