China and Africa: Stronger Economic Ties Mean More Migration

The Migration Policy Institute writes:

Since China first established diplomatic ties with some African countries nearly 50 years ago, Chinese-African trade and Chinese presence on the continent has increased exponentially.

Current immigration trends are linked directly to China's liberalized migration and economic policies in the late 1970s, which permitted Chinese to leave the country and allowed for foreign investment.

Official estimates of the number of Chinese in Africa vary dramatically. Political scientist Sasha Gong reports official numbers to be only 100,000 Chinese workers in Africa — or 15 percent of the total overseas Chinese workforce. About 35 percent of those in Africa work in manufacturing and about 30 percent in construction, with the number of manufacturing jobs decreasing and construction jobs increasing over the past five years. Gong acknowledges that the official number is likely only a fraction of the whole.

An Ohio University database estimates the total number of Chinese in Africa at 137,000, the same figure Taiwan's government provided in 2001 (Taiwan's estimate in 2004 was 154,000).

Political scientist Emmanuel Ma Mung estimates the number to be between 270,000 and 520,000, with between 70,000 and 80,000 contract migrants. However, Xinhua, China's official news agency, estimates the total population to be significantly larger — as many as 750,000 Chinese working or living "for extended periods" on the continent.

In Angola, 2,500 Chinese work for Chinese companies financed by an oil-backed loan China granted to the Angolan government. University of Nairobi economist Francis M. Mwega anticipated a total of 30,000 Chinese workers for the project.

Despite scarce reliable statistics on African migration to China, few doubt the trend is growing. In a recent interview with Foreign Policy, J. Stephen Morrison, head of the Africa program at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said there will "..certainly…[be] an increase in [African] migration in the direction of China, because China is offering opportunities to increase life chances, skills, and income."

Unlike Chinese migrants to Africa, African immigrants to China tend to be highly educated. The three main types of African migrants to China are businessmen, students, and English teachers.

Perhaps the largest group of Africans in China is businessmen. A Nigerian Embassy spokesman estimated that Nigerians possibly make up the largest group of Africans in China, with about 2,000 to 3,000 Nigerians in Guangdong in 2006. Most businessmen only stay temporarily.

Although accurate data is difficult to come by, Sautman estimates there are about 10,000 Africans — mostly businessmen — in Guangzhou alone. However, a report in the Guangzhou Daily estimates as many as 100,000 Africans in Guangzhou, a number that the newspaper reports has been increasing at an annual rate of 30 to 40 percent since 2003. One district of 10 square kilometers in Guangzhou, Hongqioa, has earned the nicknames "Chocolate City" and "Little Africa" among local Chinese, according to one Guangzhou newspaper report.

Estimates of the number of Africans living in larger cities — Beijing and Shanghai, for example — have risen from hundreds to thousands over the past 10 years, according to Sautman. Many of these businessmen are interested in buying cheap Chinese goods they can sell in African markets. Others come to China to facilitate trade in raw materials, primarily oil and minerals.

Students are another significant migrant group. According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, China has provided more than 17,000 scholarships to students from 50 African countries since the 1950s. According to ministry statistics, 3,737 African students studied in China in 2006, 40 percent more than in 2005.