Sinochem, ChemChina merger appears likely

A long-rumored merger of two of China’s largest state-owned chemical firms seems to be moving ahead. According to the Chinese news organization Caixin, the State-Owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission is engineering the merger of the chemical trading and production firm Sinochem with China National Chemical Corp. (ChemChina), a conglomerate that owns dozens of chemical plants. Sinochem’s chairman, Ning Gaoning, will oversee the merged company, Caixin reports. The merger is reportedly China’s condition for endorsing ChemChina’s $43 billion acquisition of Syngenta.