Chinese President Xi Jinping is seeking to paint China as a steady partner to investors roiled by a global trade war. A spat over a shipping lane coveted by U.S. President Donald Trump is testing that push.
Hours after Xi pledged at a meeting with global executives in Beijing on Friday to create a ¡°predictable¡± business environment, China¡¯s market regulator said it would open a review into billionaire Li Ka-shing¡¯s deal to sell 43 ports around the world, including two in the Panama Canal, citing the need to ¡°protect public interests.¡±
Over the weekend, Chinese officials overseeing Hong Kong affairs shared articles on social media accusing Li¡¯s CK Hutchison Holdings of acting ¡°in concert with U.S. hegemony¡± over the $22.8 billion sale. Those broadsides came after the U.S. president framed the prospective deal to a group featuring BlackRock as America ¡°reclaiming¡± the famed waterway.
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