Politics

This Is How Much American Land China Currently Owns

China flag wavering in beautiful clouds with building skyline. The flag with drone shot in beautiful sky. China national flag for independence day.
em_concepts / Shutterstock.com

Land is valuable, especially American farmland. Foreign companies, people, and organizations love to snatch up American farmland whenever they can get their hands on it.

Foreign companies and nationals aren’t prohibited from buying land in the United States, and there is no limit to how much they can buy and hold, or what they can do with it outside of local zoning laws.

But how much land does China actually own?

#1 Tracking Agricultural Land Purchases

Texas City, Texas | East Texas Rural Landscape Aerial
Art Wager / E+ via Getty Images
Texas farmland.

The Department of Agriculture requires that foreign parties file a report within 90 days of purchasing land, but because of budget cuts, the department didn’t penalize any entities for not filing from 2015 to 2018, including China.

#2 China’s Land

American China Flag Morph Background features a waving flag that consists of the U.S. flag morphed with the Chinese flag
Animation Mama / Shutterstock.com
China.

Chinese nationals own around 383,935 acres of land in the United States. This is split between Chinese investors outside of the United States and U.S. corporations that have Chinese shareholders. Of the land owned by China, around 195,000 acres were purchased by Chinese investors (worth around $2 billion at the time of purchase), and the rest is owned by 62 U.S.-based companies.

#3 China’s Land Increase

China | File:18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.jpg
Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
China.

Chinese land ownership and growth remained fairly stable until 2019. From that year until 2020, Chinese land ownership increased by 30%, with U.S. companies that have Chinese stakeholders increasing their land ownership by almost 100%.

#4 Largest Chinese Owner

Stephen B. Thornton / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
American land.

The largest single Chinese landowner is Chen Tianqiao, founder of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute, and worth around $4 billion. He also founded the online game company, Shanda, which is the largest internet company in China. He is the 93rd richest person in China.

Tianqiao owns 198,000 acres of land in Oregon alone and much more land in Canada and other countries.

#5 Land Comparison

Michael Dean Shelton / iStock via Getty Images
Arkansas.

While it sounds like a lot, all this land comprises only around 1% of all land owned by foreign interests. When accounting for only agricultural land, China owns around 1.8% of all available agricultural land in the U.S. and owns around 3.1% of all agricultural land held by private entities.

#6 Land Grab

kenlund / Flickr
Farmland.

Between 2010 and 2021, foreign investors increased their American land share by 15.8 million acres. From 2022 to 2023 that rate increased, with purchasers spending more than $53.3 billion on U.S. land. Only 13% of all the purchasers were from China.

#7 Lax Land Laws

Bay County, Florida | Bay County Pier
TerryKelly / iStock via Getty Images
Florida.

Where are foreign interests buying the most land? Usually in states that have deregulated their real estate and land markets or have prime farming land. The top five states where foreign investors were buying land from 2022 to 2023 were Florida (comprising 23% of all land purchased during the year), California (at 12%), Texas (at 12%), North Carolina (at 4%), and Arizona (at 4%)

#8 Who Owns the Most?

Senior couple holding Canadian flag. Man and woman outdoors. Life in Canada.
DenisProduction.com / Shutterstock.com
Canada.

Canadian nationals own the most land in the United States, with 31% of all land owned by foreign entities being bought by Canadians. Canada owns around 12.8 million acres of agricultural land alone. They are followed by the Netherlands, Italy, investors in the United Kingdom, and then Germany.

#9 Where Does China Stand?

China nuclear | Missiles in front of sunny chinese flag
BeeBright / iStock via Getty Images
China.

On this list of biggest foreign landowners, China comes in 18th place, owning just 1% of all foreign-owned land, and just .3% of all U.S. agricultural land in total.

#10 Why the Frenzy?

Jamie Davies, flickr.com, CC BY 2.0 DEED
China.

In 2021, a Chinese corporation bought farmland close to the Air Force base in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The only notable feature of this land was its proximity to an American military installation. Naturally, lawmakers used this as an opportunity to sabre-rattle and fearmonger about Chinese spies and influence in our country.

#11 The Biggest Chinese Investor

Kevin Frayer / Getty Images News via Getty Images
China.

Two entities are responsible for most of the agricultural land being bought in the United States: Smithfield Foods, and Chinese billionaire Sun Guangxin. Together they own around 80% of all Chinese-owned assets. Sun bought land in Texas to build a wind farm, but Texas law prohibited it. By himself, Sun owns around 40% of all Chinese-owned land in the United States.

Essential Tips for Investing (Sponsored)

A financial advisor can help you understand the advantages and disadvantages of investment properties. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now. Investing in real estate can diversify your portfolio. But expanding your horizons may add additional costs. If you’re an investor looking to minimize expenses, consider checking out online brokerages. They often offer low investment fees, helping you maximize your profit.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.