LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas on Tuesday ordered the subsidiary of a Chinese-owned company to divest itself of 160 acres of agricultural land, the first such action under a wave of new laws across the country restricting foreign ownership of farmland.
Syngenta said it was disappointed in the state’s decision about its land, which the company has owned since 1988. The company said no one from China has ever directed its executives to buy, lease or otherwise engage in land acquisition. “Historically, states that had a law before this year, there wasn’t much enforcement,” said Micah Brown, a staff attorney at the agricultural law center.