The Chinese government has intervened to stop the planned April 2 sale of two Panama Canal ports owned by the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchinson to the US-based conglomerate Black Rock. 

CK Hutchinson operates two of the five ports adjacent to the Panama Canal. Panama first awarded the company the concession to run the ports in 1998 and extended it for another 25 years in 2021. The Canal is a major maritime chokepoint and manages about 3% of the global maritime trade. 

The issue of Chinese ownership of critical ports serving the Panama Canal predates President Trump's second term; see Does China Run the Canal? – RedState. 

The administration launched a full-court diplomatic press that got Panama to withdraw from China's Belt and Road Initiative; see UPDATED: Trump Admin. Lays Down the Law Over Panama Canal, Sets Up Major Confrontation; Panama Folds – RedState and Panama Capitulates - Will Not Renew 2017 Deal With China. What's Next? – RedState. That led to an agreement by CK Hutchinson to sell its Panama facilities to Black Rock. This seemed like an early diplomatic win for President Trump; see China's Out: American Company Taking Control of Panama Canal Ports – RedState.

Selling the Canal ports did not prove as popular in Beijing as in Washington. 

Over the past two weeks, pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao has published a series of commentaries criticising the deal for harming China's national interests and depicting it as a betrayal of China and is a "perfect cooperation" with the U.S. strategy to contain China.

China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office reposted some of the commentaries on its website, which fueled speculation Beijing could take steps to try to scupper the sale.

China's President Xi Jinping is reportedly angry about the deal. He saw Chinese ownership of the ports as a poke in the eye of American power and a bargaining chip in possible tariff negotiations.

Now, Chinese antitrust regulators (yes, I did lol writing that) have been unleashed on the deal, which is much larger than two Panamanian ports.

The sale of CK Hutchison’s two ports at each end of the Panama Canal was part of a US$23 billion dollar deal to sell 45 ports spread over 23 countries to a consortium led by United States investment firm BlackRock. CK Hutchison will pocket US$19 billion.

“We have noticed this transaction, and will review it in accordance with the law to ensure fair competition in the market and safeguard the public interest,” a spokesman from the anti-monopoly department under the market regulator said in a written reply.

The watchdog did not reveal when the investigation would be launched.

The department is responsible for conducting antitrust reviews and providing guidance to companies over their response to mitigate risk and ensure compliance overseas.

The deal may go through, but Black Rock may not end up with the ports. Though some sources say that talks are still underway between Black Rock and CK Hutchinson, nothing indicates this is anything more than wishcasting. Xi dislikes the deal; the sale has been denounced as a betrayal of China by the state press, and selling the ports to an American company is a blow to Chinese prestige, particularly in the context of Panama being offered a "deal it couldn't refuse" to leave the Belt and Road Initiative. CK Hitchinson is reportedly in talks with the Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company, the world’s biggest container shipping operator that runs dozens of terminals globally. This would remove the point of friction of Chinese ownership without allowing Trump to claim victory.

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