Chinese antitrust regulators on Friday blocked a deal by the Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison conglomerate to sell two ports along the Panama Canal to a consortium led by investment giant BlackRock.
The $22.8 billion transaction between CK Hutchison, which is controlled by 96-year-old Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, and BlackRock involved 43 port facilities around the world. It was scheduled to conclude by April 2. The most strategically important, and politically explosive, acquisitions of the sale were ports located at either end of the Panama Canal.
President Donald Trump has portrayed Chinese-owned ports on the Panama Canal as threats to American national security because the Chinese military could potentially use them to shut down the canal. He hailed the BlackRock deal as a major step
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