China has sent a senior-level delegation to Panama at a time when relations have been clouded by developments surrounding the Panama Canal, a move seen by observers as an attempt to "understand what is unfolding" and possibly reverse the situation.

The Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison’s planned sale of ports in Panama to a group led by BlackRock, the American finance giant, is under fire from Beijing.

Shares of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison sink on critique; ‘betraying and selling off’ the Chinese people