Mayor Blocks ND Corn Milling Plant

GRAND FORKS (WJON News) - The mayor of Grand Forks will deny the building permits for a Chinese-owned corn milling plant.

Mayor Brandon Bochenski said he will refuse to connect industrial infrastructure and deny building permits to Fufeng USA’s proposed corn milling plant.

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The China-based company bought 370 acres of land for the plant located 12 miles east of the Grand Forks Air Force Base in late 2021. Since the announcement, there has been considerable critique of a Chinese company operating an American plant.

In a letter to North Dakota Senator John Hoeven, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Andrew Hunter called the project a significant threat to national security.

Officials from Fufeng USA have repeatedly claimed they are not controlled by the Chinese government. The company is privately owned but has ties to China.

In a statement, Bochenski says Fufeng USA will still own the land.

Last month, a bill was introduced in the North Dakota legislature that would bar a foreign government or a business they control from purchasing, acquiring, leasing, or holding any interest in North Dakota land.

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