A company inextricably linked to Hong Kong’s first chief executive Tung Chee-hwa is to be sold to its biggest Chinese rival in a deal that perhaps serves as a metaphor for the city's relationship with China, 20 years since it was returned to Beijing rule.
According to a joint statement on Sunday, China’s largest state-owned shipping conglomerate Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. Ltd has agreed to buy Orient Overseas International Ltd OOIL, the world’s seventh-largest container shipping company and a key asset of the Tung family, for HK$49.23 billion $6.30 billion.
Together with junior partner Shanghai International Shipping Group SIPG, Cosco has...