Immigrant China

Abstract

This article tackles a new phenomenon that will have profound consequences for the future of the international migration order: international migration to the People’s Republic of China. For decades, China has had large numbers of foreign students, expatriates, returned overseas Chinese, and ethnic Chinese refugees. However, in the past few years, immigration to China has become much more diverse and numerous. Chinese students and scholars abroad return to China in ever greater numbers. Traders and labor migrants from all over the world are attracted by China’s trading opportunities, political stability, and prosperity. Middle-class Koreans, Taiwanese, and Southeast Asians are looking for cheaper living costs and better jobs. European, North American, and Australian university graduates travel to China for employment or to start a business. This article asks to what extent government policy making and the formation of immigrant groups and ethnic relations are informed by unique features of China’s late socialist society and government, or alternatively, to what extent they follow patterns similar to established developed immigrant countries in Asia, Europe, and North America.