Agrochemical giant Syngenta Group Co. Ltd. has officially debuted as part of China’s government-led mega-merger of two dominant state-owned chemical companies ahead of a possible IPO in China by mid-2022. The newly formed company Syngenta, which was registered last year, evolved from the Swiss pesticide producer that China National Chemical Corp. (ChemChina) acquired in 2017 and took in agricultural assets from ChemChina and Sinochem Group. In a statement announcing its launch Thursday, Syngenta said its first-quarter revenue was USD 6.3 billion, of which about a quarter was generated in China. The company last year surpassed Bayer AG to become the biggest agrochemical company in the world, racking up USD 23.2 billion in revenue. ChemChina acquired Syngenta AG, the predecessor of the newly launched company, for USD 43 billion in 2017 in the largest ever overseas acquisition by a Chinese firm. As part of efforts to reduce ChemChina’s debt after the takeover, it has been working through a merger with state-owned rival Sinochem. In January, the two Chinese state-owned chemical giants announced they would consolidate their agriculture chemical assets into the newly formed Syngenta Group as part of their ongoing restructuring plan.