PRESS RELEASE
China Interested in Bioceanic Rail Route Through Bolivia
Dec. 14, 2016 (EIRNS)—China’s ambassador to Bolivia, Wu Yunshuan, has stated that his government is very interested in financing construction of the Central Bioceanic Railroad Corridor (CFBC), the route which would traverse Bolivia, extending from the Peruvian port of Ilo on the Pacific to Brazil’s port of Santos on the Atlantic, the daily El Deber reported Dec. 13.
President Evo Morales has been organizing for this project for the past two years, and although he has said more than once that China was committed to financing it, no Chinese official had ever indicated that this was the case, until now. China is financing the northern bioceanic railroad from Brazil to Peru, first proposed by China at the 2014 BRICS summit in Brazil, and China Railways Construction Co. (CRCC) has completed a feasibility study for it.
Wu said that China is very interested in the CFBC project and wants to "support, collaborate, and work with Bolivia" on it.
"Both parties are discussing it. China has the technological and economic potential to collaborate with our brother nation Bolivia and build this project, which will be fundamental. It will be the project of the century and will benefit all the countries of the region,"
the ambassador said. He added that China has been closely following discussion of the project, while also participating in the planning for the northern Brazil-Peru route. According to the daily Abya Yala Dec. 13, Wu said China can offer "up to" $40 billion in financing for the CFBC, although he stipulated that this will depend on the scope and quality of the project—the level of modernization and technology involved—which could cause the amount to vary.
The estimated cost of the project is between $10 and $15 billion. Wu Yunshuan said that meetings would take place early next year to pin down details on the project.
