It comes as data shows Chinese firms now own more than $2billion worth of US farmland, up from just $162million a decade ago, DailyMail.com can reveal.

The CCP has a stake in 383,935 acres of American agricultural land as of December 2021, according to the latest figures released by the US Department of Agriculture.

By comparison, Bill Gates owns 248,000 acres of US farmland, while Jeff Bezos owns 420,000.

It has sparked a national debate over why the US is allowing a hostile state to buy up vital land across the country amid concerns over espionage and security.

Hundreds of residents in Green Charter Township, Mecosta County, have previously turned out to protest the Gotion deal, in which the firm is to be paid $175million in direct taxpayer funding to help it build the facility.

Questions have also been raised over allowing a CCP-subsidiary to move into a site that is just 100 miles away from a US military camp where the Michigan National Guard has been training troops from Taiwan - a territory neighboring China some security experts, including among the US military, say Beijing is preparing to invade.

In a statement confirming the purchase of 270 acres of land in Green Charter Township last week, Gotion said it had 'listened to concerns of local residents and decided not to purchase two large parcels of land zoned for agriculture use at this time'.

Resident and realtor Lori Brock, 58, who has led the local opposition to the deal, said the concession was a 'huge' victory for the community, but warned the fight was 'far from over'.

'We don't want that factory in our community no matter what,' she told DailyMail.com

'We want an American company. Not one that is backed by the CCP.

'We're almost at war with China right now. Why are we allowing them to buy land here and we can't buy land in China? It doesn't make sense.

'We're fighting [the deal] tooth and nail.'

By comparison, Bill Gates owns 248,000 acres of US farmland, while Jeff Bezos owns 420,000.

It has sparked a national debate over why the US is allowing a hostile state to buy up vital land across the country amid concerns over espionage and security.

Hundreds of residents in Green Charter Township, Mecosta County, have previously turned out to protest the Gotion deal, in which the firm is to be paid $175million in direct taxpayer funding to help it build the facility.

Questions have also been raised over allowing a CCP-subsidiary to move into a site that is just 100 miles away from a US military camp where the Michigan National Guard has been training troops from Taiwan - a territory neighboring China some security experts, including among the US military, say Beijing is preparing to invade.

In a statement confirming the purchase of 270 acres of land in Green Charter Township last week, Gotion said it had 'listened to concerns of local residents and decided not to purchase two large parcels of land zoned for agriculture use at this time'.

Resident and realtor Lori Brock, 58, who has led the local opposition to the deal, said the concession was a 'huge' victory for the community, but warned the fight was 'far from over'.

'We don't want that factory in our community no matter what,' she told DailyMail.com

'We want an American company. Not one that is backed by the CCP.

'We're almost at war with China right now. Why are we allowing them to buy land here and we can't buy land in China? It doesn't make sense.

'We're fighting [the deal] tooth and nail.'

Michigan Congressman John Moolenaar (R.) said in a statement: 'Mecosta County residents have overwhelmingly spoken out against this deal while being bullied and kept in the dark by Gotion and local officials who signed non-disclosure agreements that go against the public's right to know.

'The simple facts are that Gotion is a subsidiary of a company that pledges allegiance to the CCP and it should not be receiving taxpayer money to build in Michigan.

'For our state to welcome CCP investment in Michigan 100 miles from the same facility where the Michigan National Guard has worked with military officials from Taiwan is a dangerous double standard that puts national security at risk. This land purchase is the wrong direction for Michigan and our communities.'

The Gotion deal is the latest in a string of Chinese takeovers of US farmland in recent years.

In 2021 alone, five Chinese investors bought 14 parcels of US land covering almost 60,000 acres with a total value of $85million, according to Department of Agriculture data.

But there are signs communities and lawmakers are fighting back.

The mayor of Grand Forks, Minnesota, has said he will stop the US branch of Chinese firm Fufeng Group from building a $700million corn mill on the outskirts of the town after an Air Force official published a letter citing a security risk due to its proximity to an Air Force base.

Sun Guangxin's plans to buy more than 100,000 acres for a wind farm in Texas were blocked by officials.

In Congress, lawmakers have introduced bipartisan bills to block the ability of buyers from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran to purchase US agriculture.

Meanwhile, more than 20 states are considering measures aimed at restricting existing limits around foreign ownership of US farmland, according to the National Agricultural Law Center.

But others have said the threat from Chinese land ownership is exaggerated. The proportion of US land controlled by Beijing doesn't represent a risk to the country's ability to feed itself, according to an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Texas state Rep. Gene We (D.) has said the Chinese community is being scapegoated.

The Chinese Embassy has previously said the US stands to benefit from overseas investments and described talk of land purchases as a means of infiltration as a 'malicious generalization'.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D.) has welcomed Gotion's $2.4billion investment in Green Charter Township, which she said would create 2,350 'good-paying jobs'.

Jim Chapman, supervisor of Green Charter Township, told DailyMail.com that the 'majority' of residents saw the deal as 'an unbelievable economic opportunity' and accused those who opposed it of displaying a 'NIMBY attitude'.

He described Gotion, which was founded in China in 1998 before being incorporated in California in 2014, as 'truly an international company'.

Plans for the factory must now pass an environmental review by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

Residents have highlighted the potential toxicity of lithium production at the plant as a particular cause for concern.

Entrepreneur Jeffrey Thorne, 64, who has lived in the area for almost 40 years, highlighted the threat of chemical pollution to the Muskegon River, a major artery for Lake Michigan.

'There is a lot that's been said by politicians over the years about protecting our great lakes and yet here they're bringing a very toxic type of chemicals into our area,' he added.

'My daughter and son-in-law farm close to 2,000 acres of crop farming and just got into beef cattle farming so it just doesn't fit into the overall plan of the community we live in.'

Kelly Cushway, 68, who bought his first farm in the township in 1977, echoed his sentiments. 'It's a rural community. It's very quiet and peaceful here…I just can't imagine the town changing.'