Florida, one of America's fastest growing states, has a highly diversified economy, but has struggled to attract direct investment from China.

Riding a construction boom, Brad Meltzer from Plaza Construction oversees his company's projects in Florida. Just over three years ago, Plaza Construction was snapped up by a subsidiary of one of the world's largest building contractors, China State Construction Engineering Corporation.

Meltzer says Plaza thrives on being part of a 26 billion US dollar Chinese company.

"The benefit is the sheer volume of employees and the wealth of knowledge. We've been able to leverage that,” said Meltzer.

Yet Plaza is an exception in Florida. Despite being America's third most populous state, it drew just over a billion dollars in Chinese direct investment in the last decade. New York state is the closest to Florida in population size and drew nearly 13 times more Chinese investment.

"There is no direct flight up till now. I mean between any of the major cities in China to any of the major cities in the state of Florida,” said Wang "They have to see the potential."

However, with Florida's population growth more than twice the national average, Wang predicts construction will help drive future Chinese investment.

Chinese visits to Florida increased seven percent last year. And the National Committee on US-China Relations predicts tourism, along with construction and agriculture will help the state play catch-up in the competitive global race for Chinese investment dollars.