Panama Ports Deal Hits Impasse as China Makes New Demands for Its Approval
Beijing threatens to block BlackRock-led deal to buy ports unless state-owned Cosco gets a majority stake. COSCO ship pictured below.
President Trump’s push to loosen China’s influence in the Panama Canal has hit a wall now that Beijing is demanding that China’s largest shipping company get a controlling stake in a deal to sell dozens of ports to a BlackRock group. The proposed sale includes two ports at the Panama Canal and more than 40 others around the world, all controlled by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison. BlackRock and containership operator Mediterranean Shipping Co. reached a $22.8 billion agreement in March to buy them after Trump raised security concerns about Hutchison’s—and the ports’—connection to China.
China Ups Demand to Controlling Stake in Panama Ports Deal
People walk next to a logo of China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China.
China has upped its demands and is now pushing for state-owned ship operator Cosco to get a controlling stake in a $22.8 billion ports deal involving two contentious ports near the Panama Canal, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing people familiar with the matter. BlackRock and Italian Gianluigi Aponte’s family-run shipping firm MSC, which earlier secured a deal for the ports, had been open to offering Cosco an equal stake, the report said, adding however that talks have now hit an impasse after the fresh demands.
