CK Hutchison holds a 90% stake in the local Panama Ports Company, which had a 25-year concession to operate the Balboa and Cristobal ports, located at both ends of the canal, renewed in 2021.

CK Hutchison Holdings is in talks with a BlackRock-led consortium to include a strategic investor from China to push ahead with its plans to sell ports on either end of the Panama Canal.

T wo ports, one at either end of the Panama canal, have become a battlefront in the power struggle between China and America. Both countries view them as vital to their trading and security interests.