China Increasing Pressure on Panama Ports Deal

Li Ka-Shing in happier times, greeting supporters at the announcement of his official retirement in 2018. Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP

The Chinese authorities are reportedly telling state-owned enterprises to pause new business with companies linked to Li Ka-Shing and his family, the latest signal that Beijing is unhappy with the decision by Li’s CK Hutchison Holdings to sell two strategic ports in Panama to a U.S. consortium—part of a wider sale of 43 ports.

CK Hutchison is reportedly in talks with the Hong Kong government to find “a reasonable way out” with about a week to go before finalizing the deal with the BlackRock-led consortium. The CPC has limited leverage because the Li family extracted most of their capital from the mainland and assumed Canadian citizenship. However, since Chinese state media has been framing the deal as undermining the BRI and pointing out the deal’s impact on numerous contracts with Chinese companies, CK Hutchison might find itself in a difficult political corner.

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by CGSP Staff

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