Li Ka-shing Appears at Concert, Declines to Comment on Port Sale Controversy

On May 10, 2018, Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing officially retired after presiding over a shareholders' meeting. (Anthony Wallace/AFP)

[Dajiyuan] On May 10, Hong Kong tycoon and founder of CK Hutchison Holdings, Li Ka-shing, appeared at the Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong to attend a concert by the Taiwanese band Mayday. When questioned by the media about CK Hutchison’s controversial sale of Panamanian port assets, his staff responded that Li had already retired and did not answer any questions.

According to Hong Kong media outlet HK01, Mayday held the second of four concerts at the main stadium of Kai Tak Sports Park on the evening of May 10. Li Ka-shing watched from a private suite in the venue.

At around 8:40 p.m., Li Ka-shing was seen leaving the suite in an electric mobility vehicle, waving and thanking people around him. When reporters asked him about the CK Hutchison port sale controversy, Charmaine Chow, director of the Li Ka Shing Foundation, replied, “Please don’t ask about that. Mr. Li is retired. It’s rare for him to appear in public.”

Since the controversy over the sale of CK Hutchison’s port assets, Li has made few public appearances. His most recent appearance was on April 29, when he made a donation in his capacity as founder of the Li Ka Shing Foundation. He gifted a Histotripsy 2.0 system — a non-invasive liver cancer treatment — to the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital, although he only appeared in the official press release.

Also noteworthy is that Li Ka-shing recently slashed prices by 30% on his Beijing residential project, Emerald Bay.

Located in Beijing’s Chaoyang District near the East Fourth Ring Road, the latest high-rise units at Emerald Bay are now priced at RMB 70,000 per square meter, with a minimum total cost of RMB 9.8 million, down nearly one million yuan from the 2023 launch prices. Villa units have also seen significant price cuts. The smallest unit, at 345 square meters, has dropped from RMB 32–33 million to RMB 29 million, bringing the price per square meter to approximately RMB 85,000–86,000.

To appease earlier buyers who paid higher prices, the developer has offered two forms of compensation: 1. Renovation upgrades at a fixed price, or 2. Cash compensation ranging from RMB 800,000 to RMB 1 million per household.

On March 1, CK Hutchison announced plans to sell 43 of its global port assets, including two located along the Panama Canal, to a consortium led by BlackRock-TIL, a U.S. asset management group. The deal attracted international attention and drew sharp discontent from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which subsequently launched an anti-monopoly review.

On April 27, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation issued a statement via its website expressing serious concern over the transaction. It announced that a review would be conducted and warned that “parties involved must not attempt to circumvent the review process. The transaction may not proceed without approval. Otherwise, they will face legal consequences.”

CK Hutchison was originally expected to finalise the port sale deal by April 2, but as of now, no confirmation has been released regarding whether the deal has been signed or cancelled.

According to an April 16 report by The Wall Street Journal citing insiders, the consortium's member Mediterranean Shipping Company is considering excluding the two Panamanian ports from the deal and proceeding with the acquisition of the remaining 41 ports.

Meanwhile, pro-Beijing newspaper Ta Kung Pao published an article on May 1 criticising CK Hutchison for “turning a deaf ear” to Beijing’s warnings. The article also warned that if the company continues on this path, Beijing may invoke national security laws when necessary.

According to Hong Kong Economic Times, Li Ka-shing retired from CK Hutchison in 2018, handing over the reins to his eldest son, Victor Li Tzar-kuoi. In recent years, Li Ka-shing has only made appearances at charitable or non-commercial events.

Editor: Fang Xiao