Once Ren Jianxin has an acquisition target in his sights, he does not let go of it easily. Months after the head of China’s largest chemicals company failed in a bid for Syngenta, which valued the Swiss agribusiness at $42bn, ChemChina is reportedly closing in on a higher offer.

If the transaction is concluded, it would represent the largest overseas acquisition by a Chinese company and would give Mr Ren his second major trophy in as many years.

That transaction was the latest example of Mr Ren’s dogged approach to deal-making after an initial offer was abandoned three years earlier. Sealing the deal with Syngenta would — as was the case with ChemChina’s Pirelli coup — make the Chinese group a major player in a sector where it was previously little known.