In 1979, Ohio and Hubei became the first sister state/province pair between the U.S. and China. The Ohio-China trade and business relationship remains strong, with goods exports to China exceeding $3 billion every year since 2010. In 2022, goods exports to China remained steady at $4 billion. Many corporations headquartered in Ohio, such as P&G, count China as a major market, and investments from Chinese companies have also steadily grown. Fuyao Glass, the $700 million Chinese investment that revitalized the economy of the Dayton area, has generated over 2,000 jobs since its arrival in 2014. Its most recent expansion will bring an additional 500 jobs, and push total investment to $1 billion by 2024. Shanghai-based Semcorp plans to build a $916 million manufacturing plant in Sidney for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Invenergy intends to partner with the Chinese company LONGi to build a solar panel assembly factory near Columbus. Education is also a bulwark of the Ohio-China relationship. An estimated 9,371 Chinese students studied in Ohio in the 2022/2023 school year contributing approximately $333 million to the state’s economy. However, the proposed Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act aims to sever academic and financial ties between Ohio’s higher education institutions and their Chinese counterparts. Notably, Ohio State University’s long-standing collaboration with Wuhan University faces challenges if the bill is enacted, jeopardizing decades of faculty exchanges and research partnerships. In 2023, Ohio passed legislation prohibiting foreign entities listed on a registry published by the Ohio secretary of state from purchasing or owning agricultural land in the state.

Ohio has generated steady and consistently high total revenue from exporting to China for years, with goods exporting not falling below $3 billion in value since 2010, with an average of $3.3 billion from 2008-2017. In 2021, Ohio maintained this steadiness, with goods exports to China growing by 17% and valued at $3.6 billion. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, service exports from Ohio to China fell by -26%.

Ohio’s total earnings from exporting to China during the trade war did not show a significant dip in total value despite the blow to its agricultural sector. Ohio has been historically dependent on China’s purchasing of soybeans–in 2018, 61% of Ohio’s soybeans were being purchased by China. Yet despite the exporting of oilseeds and grains dropping significantly at the time, Ohio’s total goods exporting value to China has not dipped below $3 billion since 2010. This is owed in part to the diversification of Ohio’s exports. The success of Ohio’s continued exporting to China in total revenue however does not diminish the fact that many industries in Ohio have been affected by the trade war and continued tariffs. Small businesses in Ohio have been feeling the squeeze, as many are unable to find alternative sources for components, and have been denied requests for tariff exclusions (the USTR denied 87% of applicants from the start of the trade war through January 2020), and those that did qualify expired by the end of 2020. To illustrate, Down-lite International Inc, a family-owned business in Mason, Ohio has been hit by U.S tariffs on one of its key raw materials of imported Chinese feathers for its specialty bedding–however, its tariff exemption lapsed in late 2020 and has not been reapproved, hurting business. The company currently employs several hundred workers.

Many corporations headquartered in Ohio, such as P&G, count China as a major market, and investments from Chinese companies have also steadily grown.

In 2021, as midterm elections approached, competition with China was a hot-button issue for candidates. Incidentally, Intel announced in January 2022 plans to build a $20 billion chip factory to increase American competitiveness in semiconductor manufacturing. Furthermore, Ohio is gearing up to challenge China’s dominance in the world’s solar industry with major investments by First Solar, a US-company which emphasizes its independence from the Chinese component supply chain. Yet business continues; Semcorp (a Shanghai-based company) is investing $916 million to build a manufacturing plant in Sidney, Ohio for EV (Electric Vehicle) batteries. Fuyao Glass, a Chinese company which has made over 2,000 jobs in Ohio, was visited in September by Ambassador Qin Gang. Purdue University made headlines in a national news account in December 2021 for a Chinese student’s harassment.

 Fuyao Glass, the $700 million Chinese investment that revitalized the economy of the Dayton area, has generated over 2,000 jobs since its arrival in 2014. Its most recent expansion will bring an additional 500 jobs, and push total investment to $1 billion by 2024. Shanghai-based Semcorp plans to build a $916 million manufacturing plant in Sidney for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Invenergy intends to partner with the Chinese company LONGi to build a solar panel assembly factory near Columbus. Education is also a bulwark of the Ohio-China relationship.

In 2023, Ohio passed legislation prohibiting foreign entities listed on a registry published by the Ohio secretary of state from purchasing or owning agricultural land in the state.

An estimated 9,371 Chinese students studied in Ohio in the 2022/2023 school year contributing approximately $333 million to the state’s economy. However, the proposed Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act aims to sever academic and financial ties between Ohio’s higher education institutions and their Chinese counterparts. Notably, Ohio State University’s long-standing collaboration with Wuhan University faces challenges if the bill is enacted, jeopardizing decades of faculty exchanges and research partnerships.

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