Enigma behind US$50b canal project says he is not an agent for China
Wang Jing, the architect of a US$50b scheme to build a transoceanic waterway, shrugs off suggestions he is an agent of the state government
Wang Jing, the enigmatic businessman behind Nicaragua's US$50 billion Interoceanic Grand Canal, shrugs off scepticism about how a little-known Chinese entrepreneur can be driving a huge transcontinental project, insisting he is not an agent of the central government.
"I know you don't believe me," said Wang, adding that he has spent about US$100 million for canal preparation work and is burning through as much as US$10 million a month on the project. "You believe there are people from the Chinese government in the background providing support. Why, in the end, is only Wang Jing out front?"
Officials including President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and former leaders Jiang Zemin and Wen Jiabao have all visited Beijing Xinwei Telecom Technology, the state-connected wireless communication technologies company that Wang took control of four years ago.
Wang, 41, grabbed global headlines in June last year when he sealed a controversial no-bid 50-year renewable concession from Nicaragua's government to develop a canal to rival Panama's, and related facilities.
Big Chinese companies just don’t parachute down into Latin America
The proposed scope is enormous, comprising construction of a waterway that may extend 210 kilometres, depending on the route selected, along with two ports, a railway, oil pipeline, and an international airport.
