Hong Kong-based Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co Ltd Chairman Wang Jing greets young people before work started on the Interoceanic Grand Canal in the Nicaraguan town of Brito on Dec 22, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

The Chinese foreign ministry clarified on Monday that the Nicaragua canal project undertaken by the Hong Kong-based Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co. (HKND Group), has anything to do with the Chinese government.

"The Chinese company's engagement in the Nicaragua project is an act of itself, and has nothing to do with the Chinese government," foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a regual press conference.

"We are consistent of developing friendly and cooperative relations with countries around the world on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the one China principle," Hua added.

The 278-kilometer canal, being built in south Nicaragua, broke ground on Dec 22.

The $50 billion project, slated to be completed by 2019, has been hailed by some as a visionary undertaking that could turn poor Nicaragua into a regional economic power, and drive development in Central America.