Wang Jing: The man behind the Nicaragua canal project

The Chinese billionaire who intends to build a shipping canal through Nicaragua connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific, has dismissed the project's critics.

Speaking to the BBC in a rare broadcast interview, Wang Jing said that having Chinese companies leading the project would help ensure success.

Initial site work began last December but the project is scheduled to start in earnest after publication of the environmental assessment next month.

The BBC's China editor Carrie Gracie reports.