China state media blasts CK Hutchison's Panama port deal in soon-deleted post

By Lewis Jackson and Jenny Su

BEIJING, March 29 (Reuters) - Chinese state media attacked Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison's plan to sell its ports near the Panama Canal to a BlackRock-led group in a social media post on Saturday that was taken down minutes later.

The social media account linked to state broadcaster CCTV said China had significant national interests in the transaction and the sale was "tantamount to handing a knife to an opponent."

As a Hong Kong company, CK Hutchison should be careful about how it handled deals that could harm China's national interest, said the post from the account Yuyuantantian on social media platform Weibo.

However minutes after going live, the post had vanished.

Whatever the reason for the post's deletion, it highlights growing opposition to the deal in China, where the market regulator said on Friday it would review the transaction.

Also on Friday, Reuters reported CK Hutchison had delayed part of the sale process, although sources said the deal has not been called off.