A North Dakota City Attracted a Corn Mill. Then Came Questions About Its Chinese Owners.

On the request of the F.B.I., the assembly was held behind closed doorways. Some residents who wished to listen to what the company needed to say held a protest. And although Grand Forks officers mentioned they have been left with the impression that there have been no nationwide safety issues about Fufeng, they acknowledged that the F.B.I. wouldn’t verify that explicitly, leaving critics of the undertaking unhappy.

Grand Forks is just not a moribund metropolis in determined want of labor.

Not like in Maine, the place Chinese language traders resurrected an outdated mill a number of years in the past, or Ohio, the place a Chinese language glassmaker opened up store in an deserted Common Motors manufacturing unit, there isn’t a jobs disaster in Grand Forks. Town is rising, the metro unemployment price is under the nationwide common, and employers are hiring. Along with jobs in agriculture and the navy, residents work in manufacturing or on the College of North Dakota, identified for its aviation program and powerhouse hockey workforce.

Nonetheless, Mr. Bochenski, the mayor, has pressured the financial advantages of Fufeng for his metropolis, the place 18 % of residents dwell in poverty, effectively above the nationwide price. Farmers have welcomed the undertaking as a brand new place to promote their corn, which grows in abundance within the fertile soil alongside the Purple River. And Governor Burgum, a former businessman, has repeatedly stood by the undertaking.

“With Fufeng in Grand Forks, it is going to be North Dakota — not China — that reaps the advantages of the roles, amenities, financial exercise and tax income related to processing the corn,” an announcement from the governor mentioned.

It’s pretty widespread for a Chinese language firm to do enterprise in america, and for an American firm to do enterprise in China.

However as diplomatic relations have frayed, American officers, particularly Republicans, have questioned whether or not america has grown too near China economically, and whether or not seemingly innocuous Chinese language investments may very well be used for nefarious functions.