African Immigration: A New Perspective on China-Africa Relations

Alongside China’s trading activities, investment and aid to Africa, migration has developed steadily between the two partners. Chinese communities composed mainly of traders, entrepreneurs, and contract workers appeared in major African cities and economic centers in the late 1990s. This migration pattern has drawn international attention to the many aspects of China’s presence in Africa. Mass media publications, international development experts, and politicians all over the world have noted China’s presence in Africa.

However, the inverse migration process—African migration to China—has been studied by only a few scholars,10 even though thousands of Africans have come to China, especially since the early 2000s, in hopes of benefiting from the commercial and professional opportunities offered by China’s booming economy.

According to estimates based on official Chinese statistics, the current African population in China is between twenty thousand and one hundred thousand (Le Bail, 2009, 60; Bodomo, 2010, 693–707; Bertoncellos and Bredeloup, 2009, 45–70). Most of these migrants reside in three cities of southeast China—Hong Kong, Guangzhou (Guangdong province), and Yiwu (Zhejiang province). Consequently important African communities have emerged in these cities. These communities have established extensive international business and migration networks that connect Chinese commercial ports and production areas with many different cities and regions in Africa, as well as with numerous African communities all over the world.

Who are these African migrants? Why did they decide to come to China? What are the main socio-demographic characteristics of this new migrant population? How is this migration organized? Is it possible to speak about the emergence of a stable African community in southern China? What are the key factors in the process of community formation and identity-shaping? What problems do Africans face in China, and what does the way they are treated and integrated (or not) tell us about China-Africa relations? In other words, are the relations portrayed by Chinese officials as based on friendship, respect, and mutual benefit a reality for African migrants in China?

This paper is based on data gathered during research missions in Beijing, Hong Kong, and other cities in China. It also draws from online blogs of African migrants in China and materials published recently by Chinese and foreign scholars. The paper attempts to answer the above questions in order to shed some light on the African presence in China.