Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to keep China from buying up more land in Florida.
DeSantis told reporters during a news conference in Bonita Springs, Florida on Jan. 10 that his view on Florida's economy is that "we don't want to have holdings by hostile nations."
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rules China, which is one of those hostile nations, DeSantis told reporters.
"If you look at the Chinese Communist Party, they've been very active throughout the Western Hemisphere in gobbling up land and investing in different things," DeSantis said. "And, you know, when they have interests that are opposed to ours, and you've seen how they've wielded their authority — especially with President Xi (Jinping), who's taken a much more Marxist-Leninist turn since he’s been ruling China — that is not in the best interests of Florida to have the Chinese Communist Party owning farmland, owning land close to military bases."
There are 21 military bases in Florida and the state has earmarked money to purchase land around the perimeter of those bases to increase security, according to a news release issued by the governor's office in September.
DeSantis also stated in his September news release that he will develop legislation to ban Chinese Communist Party purchase of Florida agricultural land and land surrounding military bases, a promise he repeated this month during his news conference. Such a bill has yet to be introduced in the Florida legislature.
DeSantis' comments in September came during his announcement of executive action and legislative proposals against threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party "and other hostile foreign powers in cyberspace, real estate and academia."
Florida's privately held agricultural land that is owned by foreign investors approaches 6%, according to the news release.
Chinese investors purchased $6.1 billion in U.S. real estate between March 2021 and March 2022, according a report issued by the National Association of REALTORS.
Chinese investment in U.S. agricultural land increased from 13,720 acres in 2010 to 352,140 acres in 2020, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wisconsin have enacted laws banning the Chinese Communist Party from owning agricultural land, American First Policy Institute reported in October.
Model legislation banning the Chinese Communist Party called the Liberty for our Agricultural Land Act has been proposed by the America First Policy Institute.