China in talks to build Colombian rail link to rival Panama Canal

China is in talks with Colombia to build a rail link that would join the South American country's Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

The railway would rival the Panama Canal, which has brought masses of trade to Colombia's South American neighbour.

Ships using the canal account for roughly five per cent of world trade.

The 140-mile 'dry canal' would run from the Pacific coast to a new city near Cartagena, pictured, on the northern Atlantic coast of the country

The planned rail line would run alongside the Panamanian border

China is proposing to build a railway in Colombia that would rival the Panama Canal, pictured, which has brought masses of trade to Colombia's South American neighbour

The proposed 140-mile 'dry canal' would run from the port of Cupica on the Pacific coast, through the gulf of Uraba and onto a new city near Cartagena on the northern Atlantic coast of Colombia.

It would help to boost trade with Asia while also helping in the export of material to the rest of South America.

The Asian superpower is particularly interested in importing coal from Colombia, which is the fifth biggest producer of the raw material in the world.

China is heavily dependent on coal for its power stations and steel industry and imported 164.83 million tons of the raw material last year.

The proposed line would help in carrying coal from mines to the Pacific coast.

The talks are 'quite advanced', Colombia's president Juan Manuel Santos told the Financial Times.

China is Colombia's second-biggest trade partner, with over $5bn of business done between the two countries in 2010.

'The studies [the Chinese] have made on the costs of transporting per tonne, the cost of investment, they all work out,' said Santos.

Also on the cards is a 490-mile railway line which would run to the port of Buenaventura on the west coast, allowing quick and easy exports of material from Colombia's heartland across the Pacific.