Chinese firm to build Nicaragua shipping channel

Nicaraguan lawmakers granted a 50-year concession to a Chinese company on Thursday for it to design, build and manage a shipping channel across the Central American nation that would compete with the Panama Canal.

The US$40 billion proposal by HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment's (HKND Group) calls for linking Nicaragua's Caribbean and Pacific coasts and includes plans for two free-trade zones, a railway, an oil pipeline and airports.

The government says the canal, which has been discussed for decades, could boost the country's gross domestic product by up to 15 per cent.

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