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.
A US group of investors led by BlackRock finalized a purchase of the ports from Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchinson before the stoppage.
According to the New York Post, the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation launched an investigation into CK Hutchinson on Friday, looking into the group over potential violations of anti-trust laws. The investigation has stalled the deal.
CK Hutchinson’s stocks went down on the news. It’s not good when Beijing investigates.
According to the Wall Street Journal, 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 WSJ, the Xi leadership had originally planned to use the Panama port issue as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the Trump administration, according to people close to Beijing’s decision-making, only to see the rug pulled out from under it.
Xi’s unhappiness suggests he, too, sees the canal that way and doesn’t like to be painted as the loser. His government republished a commentary last week describing the deal as a betrayal of the Chinese people.
It sounds like a new Cold War.
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