BEIJING, March 29 (Reuters) - Chinese state media on

Saturday criticised Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison's ( CKHUF ) plan

to sell its ports near the Panama Canal to a BlackRock ( BLK )-led

group, a day after China's market regulator launched a probe

into the deal.

Port operations were critical infrastructure and there were

significant national interests involved in the transaction, a

social media account affiliated with Chinese state broadcaster

CCTV said on Saturday.

"Selling the dock is tantamount to handing a knife to an

opponent," the account Yuyuantantian said in a post on Weibo.