North Dakota’s goods exports to China remained at an all-time high in 2022 of $1.1 billion. This total marks an astonishing quintupling in its goods exports to China in recent years, and a significant increase from the 2008-2017 average of $642 million. North Dakota counts China as its second largest global trading partner behind Canada, and this is entirely due to China’s purchasing of North Dakota’s oilseeds & grains. Soybeans–a crop originally from China–account for a sizable portion of the state’s export to China. In fact, Chinese soybean demand from the state exceeds existing supply, and future export shipments are already booked for the next year. Additionally, North Dakota’s ambition to become a carbon-sequestration-capital positions it well to engage with China around climate change related opportunities. Chinese investment in the state however took a major hit when the $700 million corn milling plant in Grand Forks proposed by Chinese feed manufacturer, Fufeng USA, was abandoned in June 2023. Despite initial support, politicians, including Governor Doug Burgum, now exercise caution and oppose the project. Presidential hopeful Governor Borgum has taken an increasingly tough stance on China, claiming that we are in a new cold war. In 2023, Governor Burgum signed Senate Bill No. 2371 into law, prohibiting local development and ownership of real property by “foreign adversaries.” 

North Dakota’s goods exports to China remained at an all-time high in 2022 of $1.1 billion. This total marks an astonishing quintupling in its goods exports to China in recent years, and a significant increase from the 2008-2017 average of $642 million. North Dakota counts China as its second largest global trading partner behind Canada, and this is entirely due to China’s purchasing of North Dakota’s oilseeds & grains. Soybeans–a crop originally from China–account for a sizable portion of the state’s export to China. In fact, Chinese soybean demand from the state exceeds existing supply, and future export shipments are already booked for the next year.

Wisconsin was fortunate that, because of the diversity in its exports to China and thanks to the state’s strength in sectors such as industrial machinery and scientific instruments, total export revenue stayed high even as agricultural industries were impacted heavily by the trade war. As Wisconsin’s third-largest trading partner, the state ships out a variety of goods; dairy products, corn, soybeans, ginseng, and cranberries are just some of the state’s agricultural goods reliant on the Chinese market. Wisconsin has been shipping ginseng to China for over a century, with over 95% of U.S. ginseng exports coming from Marathon County, and Wisconsin-grown ginseng is considered a luxury product despite foreign competitors making up the majority of the market; however, but the 7.5% tariff China imposed on ginseng imports during the trade war has hurt the industry. China’s oilseed and grain imports from Wisconsin fell to just $74 million in 2018, but rebounded to $474 million in 2021. Wisconsin was hard hit by China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. dairy in 2019, with export sales in this category dipping to their lowest total in a decade; the industry was also negatively affected by overproduction and plummeting consumption, which resulted in the loss of dairy farms.

Additionally, North Dakota’s ambition to become a carbon-sequestration-capital positions it well to engage with China around climate change related opportunities.

Wisconsin businesses interested in starting or expanding dairy exports to China were invited to the Wisconsin Pavilion at the 2022 China Dairy Expo in Nanchang. After a two-year pandemic cancellation, the China Lights Wisconsin Festival returned to the Boerner Botanical Gardens in the fall. In early 2022, three bills targeting China were introduced in Wisconsin’s Legislature, all focused on the University of Wisconsin: SB 742 would prohibit admitting or hiring anyone belonging to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, SB 744 would prohibit missions from China to any UW institution, and SB 745 would require disclosure of contracts or gifts from foreign sources. All three bills failed to pass.

Chinese investment in the state however took a major hit when the $700 million corn milling plant in Grand Forks proposed by Chinese feed manufacturer, Fufeng USA, was abandoned in June 2023. Despite initial support, politicians, including Governor Doug Burgum, now exercise caution and oppose the project. Presidential hopeful Governor Borgum has taken an increasingly tough stance on China, claiming that we are in a new cold war. In 2023, Governor Burgum signed Senate Bill No. 2371 into law, prohibiting local development and ownership of real property by “foreign adversaries.” 

North Dakota had an estimated Chinese international student population less than of less than 100 students in the 2022/2023 Academic calendar year.

This data and content is updated periodically. The most recent update was January 2024.