China in talks for Panama Canal alternative

China is in talks to build an alternative to the Panama Canal that would link Colombia’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts by rail. Bogotá also hopes the move will spur Washington to push for Congressional approval of a US-Colombia free-trade pact.

“It’s a real proposal  ... and it is quite advanced,” Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia’s president, said. “The studies [the Chinese] have made on the costs of transporting per tonne, the cost of investment, they all work out.”

Original source: Financial Times