Wang Jing: Nicaraguan Canal No Joke

Wang said the Panama Canal can't handle increasing volumes trading between Asia and the Americas

Wang Jing, the Chinese businessman behind the HKND Group, which has won Nicaraguan approval to pursue an alternative to the Panama Canal in that nation, says the plan is realistic and will benefit from experienced construction firms he is working with, the Associated Press reports.

"We don't want it to become an international joke, and we don't want it to turn into an example of Chinese investment failures," he told a news conference Tuesday in Beijing.

Some in Nicaragua were said to have questioned what qualifications Wang, who has been involved in telecommunications and mining businesses, brings to the $40 billion infrastructure project.

Wang said the new canal has strong prospects, given economic growth in the U.S. and China, along with Chinese demand for Latin American mineral resources.

"The world trade has been so developed today that it needs a new canal," he said.

"The Panama Canal is not enough for the trade conducted currently between East and West."

Wang said his consultants on the project include McKinsey & Co. of the U.S., and the largest Chinese construction firm, the state-owned China Railway Construction Corp.

Wang laid out a timeline for the project, saying he hopes to deliver a feasibility report in a year, break ground by the end of 2014, and finish the project in less than six years.

The canal is planned to be deeper than either the Panama Canal or the Suez Canal, allowing for the passage of the larger vessels that are increasingly popular with ship owners.

The Nicaraguan National Assembly ratified a deal with HKND Group earlier this month.