<P> As of November 2016, the president of the canal commission, Manual Coronel Kautz said "According to our schedule, we should initiate major works by the end of the year ." However, Carlos Fernando Chamorro, editor of the Confidencial newspaper, said "If the People's Republic of China does not step forward, it won't happen . Wang Jing does not have the reputation to push this through . If it is just him, then the chances of this happening are zero . If the PRC steps in, then it is a big possibility ." </P> <P> As of August 2016, no construction has taken place . No "major works" such as dredging will take place until after a Pacific Ocean wharf is finished and the wharf's construction will not start until sometime after August 2016 . </P> <P> On 3 April 2016, the New York Times reported that construction has not started and that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega had not mentioned the Canal in months . The report stated that cows were still grazing in the field where Wang held his ground - breaking ceremony . Wang has financial setbacks unrelated to the Nicaragua project when he lost 80% of his net worth during the 2015--16 Chinese stock market turbulence . </P> <P> As of May 2017, the PanAm Post indicated that "no concrete action has been taken to begin the project" and suggested that the project is either "paralyzed, or nonexistent". In September 2017 Agence France - Presse reported that the work had been "pushed back indefinitely", although they noted that on 6 September the government announced that it had renewed the project's environmental permit in April 2017 . </P>

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