U.S. Farmland Controlled by the Chinese (2024)

FAQs

How much U.S. farmland is owned by Chinese? ›

According to a 2021 report by the Department of Agriculture, China owns 384,000 acres of American agricultural land; ownership which jumped by 30% from 2019 to 2020.

Which countries own the most land in the U.S.? China holds only about 1% of all foreign-owned land in the United States, while Canada owns nearly a third. Canada holds 31% of all foreign owned land, with the Netherlands and Italy following with 12 and 7% respectively.

China actually owns way more than 384,000 acres. And I'm gonna go through the details. The 384,000 acres was reported in 2020.

A majority of U.S. land in farms is owner-operated—just over 60 percent, according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture. The national share of farmland that is owner-operated has been relatively stable over the past 50 years, with a noticeable decline during the farm crisis of the 1980s.

The largest private landowner in the United States is the Emmerson family, which owns and operates Sierra Pacific Industries, one of the largest lumber producers in the country.

It's actually Canada, which accounts for 32%, or 14.2 million acres. Rounding out the top five are the Netherlands at 12%, Italy at 6%, the United Kingdom at 6% and Germany at 5%.

Ted Turner, the media mogul, also owns 2 million acres of farmland, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns over 420,000 acres.

China currently holds 384,000 acres of land in the U.S., which is around 1% of all foreign-held acres. The total holdings for Saudi Arabian investors is about 36,000 acres. Despite its relatively small portion of the overall pie, China's foreign investment in agriculture abroad has increased rapidly in recent years.

Do any US citizens own land in China? ›

Yes, China does allow foreigners to buy property. But there are a few requirements you'll need to meet as a US citizen venturing into the Chinese property market. These are the country-wide rules, but there may also be other requirements depending on which region you're looking to buy in.

Considering the total surface area of both countries including land and water, the United States takes up 9.8 million square kilometers while China has 9.6 million square kilometers, according to World Atlas.

Outside ownership of US cropland is drawing attention from Washington as concern rises about possible threats to food supply chains and other national security risks.

People own most farmland. Some 2.6 million owners are individuals or families, and they own more than two thirds of all farm acreage. Fewer than 32,500 non family held corpor ations own farmland, and they own less than 5 percent of all U.S. farmland.

Governor Kehoe said. “China is our nation's most hostile foreign adversary, and Missouri cannot allow individuals and companies associated with the Chinese Communist Party to buy and exploit Missouri land.”

Foreign persons held an interest in over 43.4 million acres of U.S. agricultural land as of December 31, 2022. This is 3.4 percent of all privately held agricultural land and nearly 2 percent of all land in the United States.

Recent reporting shows that a CCP-affiliated corporation purchased farmland in North Dakota that is just a stone's throw from high-capability military bases. The purchase raises the possibility that the Chinese government could use the farmland as a launching pad for espionage under the guise of operating a business.

Chinese residential real estate investment is highly concentrated on the Pacific Coast. Foreign buyers tend to spread their investments across the country. But the Chinese nationals concentrate their residential real-estate investment on the Pacific Coast. Almost 40% of Chinese buyers have purchased in California.