A Closer Look: China's Chemical Giant

ChemChina made a huge splash in the agricultural chemicals market this week with its proposed acquisition of Syngenta.

The deal would be the largest takeover by a Chinese company in history, but the $43 billion offer is far from the only high-profile move made by the state-owned chemical giant in recent years.

ChemChina is the nation's largest chemical company with $45 billion in revenue last year and more than 140,000 employees — including 48,000 outside China.

The company was formed in 2004, when several subsidiaries were reorganized under Ren Jianxin, a former chemical industry official and cleaning company executive who remains ChemChina's chairman 12 years later.

In addition to agricultural chemicals and petrochemicals, ChemChina is also involved with oil refining, chemical equipment, tires and rubber, conveyor belts and even noodle restaurants.

The company also spent billions over the past decade to acquire overseas companies, including Israeli pesticide company Makhteshim Agan, German plastics and rubber equipment producer KraussMaffei and Italian tire maker Pirelli.

The Syngenta proposal, however, would be by far its largest to date if approved by Syngenta shareholders.

The Swiss agriculture pesticide company — one of the world's largest — previously rejected overtures from U.S. rival Monsanto but recommended shareholder approval of the ChemChina takeover.

The Chinese government, meanwhile, reportedly hopes that the takeover will dramatically upgrade its agricultural efficiency and allow it to feed the world's largest population.

"This is more than just a company buying another," a source close to the talks told Reuters. "This is a government attempting to address a real problem."