(The Center Square) — Land and technology purchases by companies with ties to China, Russia and other foreign adversaries will be limited in New Hampshire amid heightened national security concerns.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed two executive orders Monday she said are aimed at strengthening a new state law that restricts certain foreign entities from buying land in the Granite State. The directives follow the release of a report from the state’s top law enforcement official claiming officials didn’t conduct a foreign ownership risk assessment of the purchase of a Nashua warehouse for $67 million from a company with ties to the Chinese government.
“China, Russia, Iran and other countries like them should not be doing business in the State of New Hampshire — it’s as simple as that,” Ayotte said in a statement. “We must do everything we can to protect our state from foreign adversaries, and it starts with making sure they cannot access sensitive data, do business, or purchase property here. Under my administration, New Hampshire will always do our part to keep America safe.”
One order bans state agencies from buying or using technologies made by those countries, sets up new rules to prevent risky software and hardware from being used, and requires regular updates to a public list of banned technologies.
Another order directs state agencies and employees to ensure that no foreign principal from those countries is involved in any transactions involving state-owned real estate and report any such transactions to the state Department of Justice.
The directives come after an investigation by Attorney General John Formella, released Monday, detailed the purchase of industrial property in Nashua earlier this year by a U.S. subsidiary of Nongfu Spring, a large beverage and bottling company whose principal owner has ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Formella’s report concluded that officials at the state Department of Business and Economic Affairs didn’t violate any state laws by approving the land purchase, but said the agency didn’t conduct a foreign ownership risk assessment or hold public hearings on the purchase. He said the FBI is aware of the land purchase and is reviewing it.
Ayotte signed a $15.9 billion state budget in June that prohibits the sale or lease of land to foreign interests and gives the state the authority to seize property belonging to foreign companies or nationals within that boundary. The measure specifically lists China, Russia, Iran, Syria and North Korea as nations that would be prohibited. The Nongfu Spring land buy was finalized before those restrictions were approved.
Companies with direct ties to China owned more than 350,000 acres of farmland in at least 27 states as of 2024, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Those transactions have prompted states and the federal government to propose restrictions on China purchasing U.S. farmland near U.S. military installations. In Congress, a bill filed by Senate Republicans would prohibit the purchase of public or private land in the U.S. by Chinese citizens or companies. Dozens of states have passed laws banning people from countries deemed national security threats from purchasing or acquiring property.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has called for action by the federal government to block foreign farm ownership, specifically entities with ties to the Chinese government.
Critics say the restrictions harken back to the “alien land laws” enacted by dozens of states in the early 20th century, which limited the land ownership of newly arriving immigrants. Many of those targeted were Chinese immigrants.
