A Hong Kong-based firm has agreed to sell the majority of its ownership in two critical Panama Canal ports to a group led by the US financial firm BlackRock.
The deal comes after President Donald Trump complained for weeks that the canal is under Chinese control and that the United States should seize control of the important trade route.
CK Hutchison Holding, through a subsidiary, operates canal access ports on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
It said on Tuesday that it would sell its stake in a deal valued $22.8 billion (£17.8 billion).
CK Hutchison, founded by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, is not owned by the Chinese government. But its base in Hong Kong means it operates under Chinese financial laws. It has operated the ports since 1997.
The deal includes a total of 43 ports in 23 countries around the world, including the two canal terminals. It will require approval by the Panamanian government.
The 51-mile (82km) Panama Canal cuts across the central American nation and is the main link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Up to 14,000 ships travel through it each year, including container ships carrying cars, natural gas and other goods, and military vessels.
It was built in the early 1900s. The US maintained control over the canal zone until 1977, when treaties gradually ceded the land back to Panama.
After a period of joint control, Panama took sole control in 1999.
In a visit to Panama in February, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded that the country make “immediate changes” to what he calls the “influence and control” of China over the canal.
Panama rejected the US government claims and President Jose Raul Mulino has said the canal “is and will remain” in the central American country’s hands.
