Over 70,000 Chinese applicants obtained a US green card in 2010, according to statistics released by the US Department of Homeland Security, reported China News Service Friday.

The data shows that 70,863 Chinese citizens received a US green card in 2010, 6,625 more than 2009 but 9,408 less than 2008.

In 2010, 1,042,625 US green cards were issued by the US, among which 6.8 percent were obtained by Chinese applicants, ranking the second-highest following the 13.3 percent of Mexican applicants.

Asia and North America are the two main sources of new green card holders, respectively accounting for 40.5 percent and 32.3 percent of all issued.

Among the new green card holders, more than 200,000 reside in California, roughly 150,000 live in New York and over 100,000 live in Florida, with these three states receiving the most new immigrants.