March 28 (Reuters) - Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's CK

Hutchison ( CKHUF ) will not sign a deal next week to sell its

two port operations near the Panama Canal to a BlackRock ( BLK )-led

group amid growing pressure from Beijing, the South China

Morning Post reported on Friday, citing a source close to the

company.

The deal was expected to be signed on April 2, according to

the sale announcement made on March 4.

It is understood the situation does not mean the deal has

been called off, the South China Morning Post added, citing the

source.

CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) and BlackRock ( BLK ) did not immediately respond to a

Reuters request for comment.

Chinese authorities have reacted negatively to plans by the

conglomerate, while the deal was hailed by U.S. President Donald

Trump who wants to retake control of the strategic waterway.

A CK Hutchison ( CKHUF ) unit operates two of the five ports adjacent

to the Panama Canal, which manages about 3% of the global

sea-borne trade. Panama first awarded the concession to the

company in 1998 to run the ports and extended it for another 25

years in 2021.

The telecoms-to-retail conglomerate has been caught in

China's crosshairs in the highly politicised deal with a

BlackRock ( BLK ) consortium, which includes selling assets near the

strategically important Panama Canal. The deal is expected to

garner the firm more than $19 billion in cash.

Pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao said in an

editorial piece on March 21 that the transaction should to be

scrapped as the deal is a "perfect cooperation" with the U.S.

strategy to contain China.

Bloomberg News, earlier in the week, reported that Chinese

authorities had told state-owned firms to hold off on any new

deals with businesses linked to tycoon Li and his family.

(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee and Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru;

Editing by Savio D'Souza and Shinjini Ganguli)