How much US land does China really own? (2024)

FAQs

How much US land does China really own? ›

While Chinese ownership of U.S. land has been a hot topic among lawmakers — even becoming the center of a Montana Senate race this year — China only had a stake in 383,935 acres of U.S. land as of 2021, which is less than 1% of all foreign-held land.

Chinese investors owned an even tinier fraction – about 383,934 acres, according to 2021 data requested by NPR. In fact, based on the data, Chinese land holdings account for less than 1% of farmland in any given state where there have been purchases.

The United States does not own any land in China. However, the US does have a diplomatic presence in China through the US Embassy in Beijing and various consulates in other cities. These diplomatic properties are not owned by the US, but rather leased from the Chinese government.

Canadian investors own the largest portion of foreign-held U.S. agricultural land with 31% (12.8 million acres) of the total and 0.97% of all U.S. agricultural land.

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.”

China owns 384,000 acres of American agricultural land. That's a 30% increase just since 2019. And on top of that, they own land near an air force base in North Dakota.

Purchasing a property for a Russian residence permit

Foreigners can opt to buy a property in Russia and obtain a residence permit. This type of residence permit allows foreigners to live in Russia and even do business without restrictions.

Canadian investors top the list, or 12.8 million acres, roughly 31% of the foreign-owned agricultural land in the U.S. No other country's investors combine to own more than 5 million acres of American farmland.

Chinese investors owned an even tinier fraction – about 383,934 acres, according to 2021 data requested by NPR. In fact, based on the data, Chinese land holdings account for less than 1% of farmland in any given state where there have been purchases.

Who owns the most farmland in the states? ›

Top ten largest private landowners:

Emmerson family 2.411 million acres. John Malone 2.2 million acres. Ted Turner 2 million acres. Reed family 1.661 million acres.

Foreign investment in the U.S. at the end of 2022 was surpassed by the $6.58 trillion invested by U.S. companies and individuals in other countries (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2023), including ownership of over 9 million acres in other countries (Lutz, 2021).

As demonstrated in Table 1, the top 10 foreign owners of U.S. agricultural land by acres were Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, France, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Ireland. Individuals from these countries own three-quarters of the acres owned by foreigners.

China Investment Corporation (CIC) has forked out $1.03 billion to purchase a 45 percent stake in a building in New York’s iconic Rockefeller Center, a deal which makes the Chinese sovereign wealth fund one of the biggest buyers of Manhattan real estate in 2016.

Over the last few months, Montana, Virginia, and North Dakota have all passed legislation restricting the ability of Chinese nationals to buy property. Georgia, Iowa and Kansas, among others, are considering similar legislation.

In 2022, the average price for residential real estate in Shenzhen was over 55.700 thousand yuan per square meter. This was the highest price among all major cities in China, with the average price across the country amounting to 17,359 yuan per square meter.

China owns roughly 384,000 acres of U.S. agricultural land, according to a 2021 report from the Department of Agriculture.

China held 349,442 acres in 2022, which is slightly less than 1% of foreign-held acres. Forest land accounted for over 48% of all reported foreign held acreage, cropland for over 28%, and pasture and other agricultural land for over 21%.

As of the end of 2022, data indicates the operation of around 5,000 Chinese-owned companies in the United States, spanning diverse industries such as technology, manufacturing, finance, and real estate.

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.