Alabama has enjoyed a robust trade relationship with China since 1979 and was the first southern state to establish a sister state/province relationship with China in 1985. Alabama’s goods exports to China held steady with a 2% growth in 2021 generating a healthy $3.1 billion, slightly above the 2008-2017 average of $2.3 billion. Unlike many other Heartland states whose top export to China is agricultural goods, Alabama’s top export category to China is motor vehicles. In fact, Alabama led the Heartland states in the number of cars shipped to China thanks to the strong manufacturing presence of global automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota. Alabama has had some success attracting Chinese investments. The largest of them is the $100 million factory investment by Golden Dragon Copper in Wilcox County. Among the many educational exchanges between Alabama’s universities and their counterparts in China is the “Auburn Garden” jointly built by Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Auburn University in 1988. However, across the heartland states and at many higher education institutions, recent U.S.-China tensions have significantly impacted educational exchanges. Alabama was no exception, as evidenced by declining Chinese student enrollment and student visa issuance.

Alabama has maintained steady trade with China for years, having consistently exported over $2 billion in goods to China since 2011. Alabama has held steady in 2021 with a 2% growth, generating a healthy $3.1 billion in revenue from goods exports to China, well above the 2008-2017 decade’s average of $2.3 billion. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, service exports from Alabama to China fell by -29%.

During the trade war Alabama experienced only a comparably modest 16% drop in its exporting to China, despite Chinese tariffs raising prices on nearly ⅔ of all of its portfolio, though U.S. global tariffs on steel and aluminum have had an impact on top Alabama industries such as auto parts manufacturers, aerospace parts manufacturers, craft breweries, metal fabricators, and construction firms.

Alabama received only a 2% increase in growth from 2020 to 2021 in goods exports–a more modest percentage attributed to the type of commodities Alabama exports. Unlike many Heartland states which benefited from a significant upsurge in Chinese purchasing of agricultural goods as part of the Phase One trade agreement, Alabama’s top exports to China are not agricultural. In comparison, Alabama’s top export to China of motor vehicles (with brands like Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota operating in-state) saw a U.S. industry-wide increase of only 9% in exporting to China in that same period (142,202 vehicles were shipped in China in 2020, and 155,337 in 2021). Even so, Alabama led in the Heartland states in shipping cars to China with $1.7 billion in revenue–54% of the state’s total–as compared to the second largest Heartland competitor at just 7%. $1.7 billion is a 39% increase from $1.2 billion in 2019 amidst the trade wars when China levied a 25% tariff on U.S. cars–and subsequently was the year of Alabama’s lowest total export revenue from China in a decade.

U.S. solar panel manufacturer First Solar Inc. announced in November 2022 plans for a factory in Alabama, a $1.1 billion investment–the company’s usage of cadmium telluride products has made it a popular alternative to U.S. solar project developers as the domestic industry pulls away from China, given that it does not rely on polysilicon a raw material primarily made in China.

China ranks as Alabama’s leading place of origin for international students in 2022, with an estimated 2,034 students in attendance. This marks an estimated -27% decrease in enrollment of Chinese students from 2021 to 2022, and a -42% decrease from 2020 to 2022. Among the many educational exchanges between Alabama’s universities and their counterparts in China is the “Auburn Garden” jointly built by Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Auburn University in 1988. However, across the heartland states and at many higher education institutions, recent U.S.-China tensions have significantly impacted educational exchanges. Alabama was no exception, as evidenced by declining Chinese student enrollment and student visa issuance. In 2021, Alabama A&M closed its Confucius Institute due to the federal funding ban, though the Institute at Troy University remains open.

This data and content is updated periodically. The most recent update was January 2023.