Under fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump, Hong Kong’s Hutchison said it had agreed to sell its lucrative Panama Canal ports to a US-led consortium Tuesday.
CK Hutchison Holdings said it would offload a 90 percent stake in Panama Ports Company, and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports to a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock for about US$19 billion.
Hutchison has for decades run ports at Balboa and Cristobal — on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the interoceanic waterway.
But since coming to office in January, Trump has baulked at alleged Chinese control of the canal — a vital strategic asset that the US once ran.
Trump even refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to regain control, sparking angry protests in the Central American nation.
Since 2000 the Panama Canal Authority, a Panamanian government agency has run the canal and successfully upgraded the more-than-century-old waterways and locks to handle ever-larger vessels.
About five percent of world trade goes by water across the isthmus.
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