Chinese officials have spoken out against the sale of ports in the Panama Canal to a consortium led by BlackRock, sending shares in the Hong Kong-based conglomerate that owns the ports plummeting. The move is seen as a sharp criticism of the deal, which could potentially scupper it.
CK Hutchison plans to offload 46 ports to the group, with a total value of $22.8 billion. However, Beijing’s opposition raises questions about how regulators can interfere with the plan. The ports in question are located outside mainland China and Hong Kong.
Beijing’s sharp criticism is echoed by Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, who has also opposed the use of coercion or bullying tactics in international economic relations. Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, emphasized China’s firm opposition to using economic coercion to infringe on other countries’ rights.
Several Chinese government agencies have been instructed to study the deal for potential security breaches or antitrust violations. The shares of CK Hutchison fell as much as 5% due to concerns over the proposal’s future.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/18/business/hong-kong-ck-hutchison-panama-ports-sale-hnk-intl/index.html