(NewsNation) – A spokesman for Chinese billionaire Chen Tianqiao’s company has responded to media reports that he is one of them The Top Landowners in the United States.

Chen, loudly The land reportis ranked No. 82 on the list of largest individual landowners in America, making it the second-largest foreign investor in U.S. farmland.

In 2015 he was the co-founder of Shanda Interactive Entertainment purchased nearly 200,000 acres of forest land in Oregon for a total of $85 million.

Chen’s name, The Daily Mail reportsdoes not appear in government records of agricultural land ownership by foreign investors, although the United States Department of Agriculture is supposed to track these types of purchases.

This sparked controversy among lawmakers, among others Congressman Jon Tester of Montanawho wrote a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture and Finance asking for answers.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said in a statement that the USDA dropped the ball.

“Food security is national security,” she said. “We can’t protect our agricultural land from foreign adversaries if we don’t know they’re buying it.”

Jason Reindorp, global head of communications and external relations at Shanda Interactive Entertainment, said in a statement to NewsNation that the company proactively asked the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review the potential acquisition even before the process began.

In her response, Reindorp said: “The committee stated that there were no concerns and agreed to the takeover.”

Shanda, Reindorp said, was an “active participant” in it Complete collaborative forest project and partners with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to provide exclusive hunting opportunities to disabled veterans and young people. Additionally, Shanda recently donated 10 acres of land to a local fire department for a community center and headquarters.

Reindorp also said in the statement that contrary to media reports that Chen joined the Chinese Communist Party when he was 18, Chen is not a member of that party.

Chen was a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, or CPPCC, from 2018 until his resignation in 2018. The CPPCC, Reindorp said, was an advisory body with no real political power.

“The Chens left China in 2010 and lived in Singapore for about six to seven years before moving to the Bay Area, where they have lived since,” Reindorp said.