Nebraska’s exports to China are in a period of rapid expansion, with 2021 marking a record high as China overtook Mexico as the state’s top export market. Boosted by the doubling of meat product exports, Nebraska’s total goods exports to China increased by 44% in 2021. Nebraska now stands as one of the top beef exporting states to China. Further expansion of its exports to China are likely given the bilateral desires for expanded collaboration in agriculture and the abundance of agricultural innovations in livestock and crop production technology coming from the state. In addition to agriculture, Nebraska offers other interesting opportunities for Chinese commerce and investment. When China banned digital currency, many Chinese Bitcoin investors turned to Nebraska, which houses one of America’s biggest data centers for cryptocurrency mining. Over the last few decades, Chinese investments in the states have ranged from multiple subsidiaries of Smithfield and Syngenta, both acquired by Chinese companies, to smaller companies like Worldlawn Power Equipment Inc., established by Jiangsu World Electronics & Machinery Group. Nebraska universities have well-established partnerships with Chinese universities such as a short-term health professional exchange program between University of Nebraska Medical Center and three top Chinese medical schools: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Tongji University, and Capital Medical University.

In 2021, China overtook Mexico as Nebraska’s primary international export destination, in part due to Nebraska’s increased beef exporting. Nebraska is in a period of rapid expansion in its trade with China, increasing 228% in just three years. Indeed, 2021 experienced 44% growth for a total of $2.3 billion, marking a record high in Nebraska’s exporting to China–a remarkable surge compared to the 2008-2017 average of $1.3 billion. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, service exports from Nebraska to China fell by -27%.

In 2018 Nebraska’s trade with China was devastated by steep tariffs on beef, pork, and soybeans, cutting its exporting to China in half from $1.4 billion in 2017 to the previously stated $700 million in 2018. In just that year, oilseeds and grains shipments dropped by two-thirds, and meat exporting by 20%. The timing could not have been poorer; just the year prior in 2017 China had lifted its 14-year long ban on importing U.S. beef, but this emerging market was stymied during the trade war. Nebraska had positioned itself at the time to seize the opportunity, quickly comprising more than half of the total U.S. beef exports to China at 54%) but then was stifled by a 47% tariff on American beef.

Trade between the two is clearly recovering however, as in 2021, China overtook Mexico as Nebraska’s primary international export destination, in no small part due to the expansion in its sale of beef and pork. Nebraska’s total exporting to China increased by a factor of 44% from 2020 (twice the Heartland region’s average) owing partly to its 106% increase in exporting meat products, up from $182 million in 2020 to $375 million in 2021. In 2018, a total of $33 million worth of beef was shipped from Nebraska to China–a number which has increased 545% to a total of $212 million in 2021, and is only expected to grow in the coming years. Trade with China continues to expand in other sectors as well, primarily soybeans, to the point that one fifth of all Nebraska exports are sent to China.

In addition to agriculture, Nebraska has a number of potential opportunities for Chinese commerce and investment; one such being the growing field of cryptocurrency. When China banned digital currency, many Chinese Bitcoin investors turned to Nebraska, which houses one of America’s biggest data centers for cryptocurrency mining.

China ranks as Nebraska’s leading place of origin for international students in 2022, with an estimated 745 students in attendance. This marks an estimated -33% decrease in enrollment of Chinese students from 2021 to 2022, and a -49% decrease from 2020 to 2022. Nebraska universities have well-established partnerships with Chinese universities such as a short-term health professional exchange program between University of Nebraska Medical Center and three top Chinese medical schools: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Tongji University, and Capital Medical University.

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