Made in China, starting in Peru and ending in Brazil. A Chinese scheme to build an east-west railway across South America has moved a step closer after the government in Peru agreed to study the proposal following talks between China and the Peruvian president.

Brazil, China and Peru will now start a feasibility study for the 5,300 kilometre railway the cost for which will top the 10 billion dollar mark. For China it would reduce the cost of shipping raw materials and farm products.

Campaigners have raised concerns it could destroy untouched parts of the Amazon rainforest and affect hundreds of indigenous communities. But Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang sought to ease those fears.

“To create the infrastructure, it is necessary to protect the environment,” he is reported as saying after talks with the Peruvian President Ollanta Humala.