In July 2021, Chinese markets braced for a buzz. Syngenta, the Swiss agritech giant, filed for a $10bn-dollar listing on Shanghai’s STAR Market, a tech-focused stock exchange. It should have been a win-win for China; Syngenta said it would invest some of the new financing into agricultural technology, promising an injection of cash into an important sector. But, more than two years later, Syngenta still hasn’t listed. Beijing insists that China is open for business and that it is committed to supporting the private sector. But a renewed focus on national security coupled with rising geopolitical tensions is damaging confidence….