China has held up the $23 billion sale of dozens of ports worldwide — including two key ports in the Panama Canal — to a group led by US investing giant BlackRock after President Trump expressed concern about Beijing’s sway over the strategic shipping lanes.
On March 4, CK Hutchison, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate controlled by 96-year-old billionaire Li Ka-shing, announced plans to sell 43 port facilities globally — including critical ports at both ends of the Panama Canal and near the Suez Canal — for approximately $22.8 billion.
But China’s State Administration for Market Regulation unexpectedly initiated an investigation on Friday into potential violations of Chinese anti-monopoly laws, effectively stalling the deal.
China President Xi Jinping is reportedly “angry” over CK Hutchison’s plans to sell its Panama Canal port operations — particularly because the company did not consult Beijing beforehand, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The deal — spearheaded by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, a longtime Trump confidante — called for an agreement to be signed by April 2, though it now is likely that the Wednesday deadline will be missed.
The Post has sought comment from BlackRock.
“We are confident that Panama will require the sale of these assets within its sovereign territory,” a White House official told The Post.
Insiders say Chinese leadership had hoped to leverage the port issue in its talks with the Trump administration, only to be caught off guard by the deal’s sudden progress.
Trump hailed the development as a strategic win over China — casting Panama as a key battleground in the broader US-China struggle for global influence.
In response, an op-ed published in the pro-Beijing newspaper Ta Kung Pao condemned the sale as a “betrayal of all Chinese people.”
The timing of the deal’s announcement, coming just before the start of the “two sessions,” China’s most significant annual political and economic gathering, only deepened the offense for Xi and the Chinese Communist Party.
The Panama Canal — used extensively by both the US and China — has reemerged as a flashpoint in global politics after President Trump renewed his pledge to assert American dominance over the waterway.
Beijing’s move to influence the affairs of CK Hutchison reinforced concerns among global observers about China’s diminishing distinction between private and public sectors as well as its aggressive encroachment into Hong Kong’s affairs.
Trump has claimed that the canal is controlled by China and operated by its military.
In reality, CK Hutchison, the company at the heart of the port sale, is headquartered in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous region historically afforded a high degree of operational independence from Beijing.
The dispute over the canal’s ports arises at a sensitive moment as China faces ongoing tensions from a US trade war.
This week, Trump is expected to announce a new round of so-called “reciprocal tariffs.”
