How much land does China own in the USA? (2023)

How much land in U.S. does China own?

China owns and controls almost 192,000 acres of farmland right here in the United States. To be clear, it's not a huge percentage of our total farm acreage by any stretch.

The share of Chinese investors in the U.S. real estate market remained somewhat constant until 2018 when it hovered at around 15 percent, before dropping to 11 percent in 2019 and then six percent in 2021.

Canadian investors lead this pack, by a long shot, with nearly 9.4 million acres of U.S. land — more acreage than 44 of the top 50 foreign landowners combined, according to the report. (These people own the most land in America.)

China — 9,600,013 km² United States — 9,525,067 - 9,831,510 km² Brazil — 8,515,770 km² Australia — 7,741,220 km²

This is 2.9 percent of all privately held agricultural land and 1.7 percent of all land in the United States.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), China (includes Hong Kong) emerged as the top country of origin among foreign buyers in 2021, accounting for 8% of all foreign buyer purchases in terms of dollar volume of existing home purchases in the United States.

But in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the issue has recently brought national attention and controversy. In the fall of 2021, the city proudly announced the sale of land to a Chinese-owned conglomerate: Fufeng USA.

China's American agricultural land holdings have increased over tenfold in the last decade, and at the beginning of 2020, investments from China held $2 billion of American agricultural land.

Is There Any Unclaimed Land in the United States? No, all land in the United States had been claimed – either by a private or public entity.

How much of America does Japan own?

Japan: $912.4 billion (6.4 percent)

The United States, by contrast, has a nominal GDP of $20.89 trillion—roughly 14 times the size of Russia's economy. And nominal GDP per capita is $63,413. Even three U.S. states have larger GDPs than Russia: California ($3.1 trillion), Texas ($1.78 trillion) and New York ($1.7 trillion).

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports, Chinese investors' holdings of U.S. agricultural land surged from 13,720 acres in 2010 to 352,140 acres in 2020.

However, several of our adversaries, including China, Iran, and Russia are also buying up our farmland. The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (AFIDA) requires all foreign persons holding agricultural land to disclose their ownership to the USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA).

The United States outweighs China in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), technology, and military spending. China's GDP is 15 percent of global GDP, compared to 24 percent of the United States.

The United States is the richest country in the world with the highest GDP, as of 2021. China is the second richest country in the world with a $17.734 trillion GDP. Monaco is the richest country in the world when measured by GDP per capita.

In all, foreign owners control less than 3% of the country's farmland. Canadians represent the biggest share controlling a bit less than a third of the total.

Private individuals and corporations own about 60 percent of U.S. land while Federal, State, and local governments own the rest.

CLAIM: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates owns the majority of America's farmland and the investment firm BlackRock holds the majority of single family houses in the country.

Does China own property in Hawaii?

China Oceanwide spent more than $500 million on real estate purchases in West Oahu during the last several years including a 424-acre adjacent to the 642-acre Ko Olina Resort. KITV4 has reached out to China Oceanwide and Tower Development for comment.

In fact, 90% of families in the country own their home, giving China one of the highest home ownership rates in the world. What's more is that 80% of these homes are owned outright, without mortgages or any other leans. On top of this, north of 20% of urban households own more than one home, according to Nomura .

Living in China as an American is great, but if you don't have the right visa, you'll be in a whole heck of a lotta trouble. If you're moving to China to teach English, you should be aware of some common scams companies might deploy to lure you into a cushy job. But don't let that stop you!

Leaseholds and Foreign Investor Concerns

One, you cannot ever truly own property in China whether you're a foreigner a local. Every plot of land is technically owned by the state and can only be bought on a leasehold basis for up to 70 years. This makes real estate in China a depreciating asset.

Today, the United States imports more from China than from any other country, and China is one of the largest export markets for U.S. goods and services. This trade has helped the United States in the form of lower prices for consumers and higher profits for corporations, but it has also come with costs.

Foreign holders of United States treasury debt

Of the total 7.5 trillion held by foreign countries, Japan and Mainland China held the greatest portions, with China holding 970 billion U.S. dollars in U.S. securities.

The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million.

Yes, there are many unclaimed lands in the world and the biggest unclaimed territory is Antarctica. Can you claim an unclaimed island? The answer is yes, you can claim unclaimed islands but it is going to be difficult. Unclaimed islands are usually unclaimed for a reason and are mostly declared national monuments.

Bir Tawil is the last truly unclaimed land on earth: a tiny sliver of Africa ruled by no state, inhabited by no permanent residents and governed by no laws.

Who owes America the most money?

U.S. debt to China comes in the form of U.S. Treasuries, largely due to their safety and stability. Although there are worries about China selling off U.S. debt, which would hamper economic growth, doing so in large amounts poses risks for China as well, making it unlikely to happen.

While China raises concerns over American boots on the ground in Asia, the country continues to grow its own footprint in the U.S. USDA's latest data shows China owns over 191,000 acres of U.S. lands, but that was before a North Dakota land sale this Spring.

Low-priced consumer goods produced in China have been dominating American imports over the years. China can manufacture many goods at competitive prices, because of two comparative advantages: lower standards of living, and a partial pegging of the yuan to the dollar.

"According to the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission, the Grand Forks Air Force Base has exceptional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, making the recently purchased land the ideal location to closely monitor and intercept military activity," the lawmakers wrote.

Queen Elizabeth II: 2.7 billion hectares

By far the world's largest non-governmental landowner, Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the British Commonwealth and therefore legal owner of around 2.7 billion hectares of land, as estimated by The New Statesman.

The case for the Catholic Church: The Catholic Church owns 177 million acres of land across the globe for its churches and schools, as well as owning farmland and forest land. If this number sounds astonishing to you, you're not alone.