A Hong Kong-based company has agreed to sell most of its stake in two key ports on the Panama Canal to a group led by US investment company BlackRock.The sale comes after weeks of complaining by President Donald Trump that the canal is under Chinese control and that the US should take control of the major shipping route.

An investor group backed by BlackRock agreed to buy a majority stake in the Hong Kong-based company that runs ports along either side of the Panama Canal, giving a U.S. firm control of key docks amid pressure from the White House to take them from China.

CK Hutchison said the proposed sale was part of a bigger deal in which a consortium led by BlackRock Inc. would acquire an 80% interest in its units.