A big hurdle to ChemChina's $43bn (£32.6bn) takeover of Syngenta (SW:SXX) was removed this week, after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) gave the thumbs-up. The decision implies that Washington is less concerned over foreign ownership within agriculture than it is about high-tech, defence and cyber-security assets.
Securing Syngenta's intellectual property is expected to spur China's adoption of genetically modified crops and advanced seed and pesticide technologies. Food security remains a central issue for the country, and the need to modernise farming practice has been given added impetus by the vast numbers of people that are moving off the land in search of better paid work in China's sprawling industrial conurbations.