China National Chemical Corporation's headquarter in Beijing. [Photo: cnwnews.com]

China National Chemical Corporation announced that they had received an approval from the U.S. authorities for its takeover of Swiss chemical company Syngenta AG.

Getting the nod from The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) removes one of the biggest hurdles for the massive deal.

The US$43-billion acquisition also marks the largest overseas M&A deal by a Chinese company.

The deal, expected to be completed by the end of this year, is still subject to antitrust review by regulators worldwide, according to the statement.

CFIUS, a US interagency committee, has the power to block deals deemed to be posing a threat to national security.

Led by the Treasury Department and including officials from the Defense and State departments, the committee reviews acquisitions of US businesses by foreign investors for risks to US security and can recommend to the president that deals be stopped.

Analysts said that acquiring Syngenta, which got more than a quarter of its revenue last year from seeds and crop protection in North America, would help transform ChemChina into a pesticide and agrochemical giant.

But at the same time, opposition inside the U.S. is says that the deal could affect food security and safety as well as the U.S. farm sector.