Waves of Chinese emigration have happened throughout history. They include the emigration to
Southeast Asia beginning from the 10th century during the
Tang dynasty, to the
Americas during the 19th century, particularly during the
California gold rush in the mid-1800s; general emigration initially around the early to mid 20th century which was mainly caused by corruption, starvation, and war due to the
Warlord Era, the
Second Sino-Japanese War and the
Chinese Civil War; and finally elective emigration to various countries. Most emigrants were peasants and manual laborers, although there were also educated individuals who brought their various expertises to their new destinations.
Chronology of historical periods
11th century BCE to 3rd century BCE
The Zhou dynasty overthrew the Shang dynasty in 1046 BCE. This conquest marked the beginning of the Zhou rule and the expansion of their territorial control.[7]
Western Zhou: The Zhou people engaged in active military campaigns to expand their territory. As they conquered new regions, there was likely a movement of people to settle and administer these newly acquired lands.[8]
Eastern Zhou period: The Eastern Zhou period is characterized by the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE) and the Warring States period (475–221 BCE). During this time, the exchange of ideas and cultures between different states led to migration of scholars, artisans, and officials.[7]
210 BCE:
Qin Shi Huang (
Chinese: 秦始皇) dispatched
Xu Fu (
Chinese: 徐福) to sail overseas in search of
elixirs of immortality, accompanied by 3,000 virgin boys and girls. Records suggest Xu Fu's expedition settled in
Honshu,
Japan.
From the
Han dynasty onwards, Chinese military and agricultural colonies (
Chinese: 屯田) were established at various times in the
Western Regions, which in the early periods were lands largely occupied by an Indo-European people called the
Tocharians.
Many Chinese
merchants chose to settle down in the Southeast Asian ports such as
Champa,
Cambodia,
Java, and
Sumatra, and married the native women. Their children carried on trade.[10][11]
Borneo: Many Chinese lived in Borneo as recorded by Zheng He.
Champa: the
Daoyi Zhilüe documents Chinese merchants who went to Cham ports in
Champa, married
Cham women, to whom they regularly returned to after trading voyages.[12] A Chinese merchant from Quanzhou, Wang Yuanmao, traded extensively with Champa, and married a Cham princess.[13]
Han Chinese settlers came during the
Malacca Sultanate in the early 15th century. The friendly
diplomatic relations between China and Malacca culminated during the reign of Sultan
Mansur Syah, who married the Chinese princess
Hang Li Po. A senior minister of state and five hundred youths and maids of noble birth accompanied the princess to Malacca.[14] Admiral
Zheng He had also brought along 100 bachelors to Malacca.[15] The descendants of these two groups of people, mostly from Fujian province, are called the Baba (men) and Nyonya (women).
Ryūkyū Kingdom: Many Chinese moved to Ryukyu to serve the government or engage in business during this period. The
Ming dynasty sent from
Fujian 36 Chinese families at the request of the Ryukyuan King to manage oceanic dealings in the kingdom in 1392 during the
Hongwu Emperor's reign. Many Ryukyuan officials were descended from these Chinese immigrants, being born in China or having Chinese grandfathers.[16] They assisted in the Ryukyuans in advancing their technology and diplomatic relations.[17][18][19]
Siam: According to the clan chart of family name Lim, Gan, Ng, Khaw, Cheah, many Chinese traders lived there. They were amongst some of the Siamese envoys sent to China.
In 1405, under the
Ming dynasty, Tan Sheng Shou, the Battalion Commander Yang Xin (
Chinese: 杨欣) and others were sent to
Java's Old Port (
Palembang; 旧港) to bring the absconder
Liang Dao Ming (Chinese: 梁道明) and others to negotiate pacification. He took his family and fled to live in this place, where he remained for many years. Thousands of military personnel and civilians from
Guangdong and
Fujian followed him there and chose Dao Ming as their leader.
Early Chinese mariners had a variety of contacts with
Kenya.
Archaeologists have found Chinese
porcelain artifacts made during the
Tang dynasty (618–907) in Kenyan villages; however, these were believed to have been brought over by
Zheng He during
his 15th century ocean voyages.[20] On
Lamu Island off the Kenyan coast, local
oral tradition maintains that 20 shipwrecked Chinese sailors, possibly part of Zheng's fleet, washed up on shore there hundreds of years ago. Given permission to settle by local tribes after having killed a dangerous
python, they
converted to
Islam and married local women. Now[when?], they are believed to have just six descendants left there; in 2002, DNA tests conducted on one of the women confirmed that she was of Chinese descent. Her daughter, Mwamaka Sharifu, later received a PRC government scholarship to study
traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in China.[21][22] On
Pate Island, Frank Viviano described in a July 2005 National Geographic article how ceramic fragments had been found around Lamu which the administrative officer of the local Swahili history museum claimed were of Chinese origin, specifically from
Zheng He's voyage to East Africa. The eyes of the Pate people resembled Chinese and Famao and Wei were some of the names among them which were speculated to be of Chinese origin. Their ancestors were said to be from
indigenous women who intermarried with Chinese Ming sailors when they were shipwrecked. Two places on Pate were called "Old Shanga", and "New Shanga", which the Chinese sailors had named. A local guide who claimed descent from the Chinese showed Frank a graveyard made out of coral on the island, indicating that they were the graves of the Chinese sailors, which the author described as "virtually identical", to Chinese Ming dynasty tombs, complete with "half-moon domes" and "terraced entries".[23]
According to Melanie Yap and Daniel Leong Man in their book Colour, Confusions and Concessions: the History of Chinese in South Africa, Chu Ssu-pen, a Chinese mapmaker, had southern Africa drawn on one of his maps in 1320. Ceramics found in Zimbabwe and South Africa dated back to the era of the
Song dynasty in China. Some tribes to Cape Town's north claimed descent from Chinese sailors during the 13th century, their physical appearance is similar to Chinese with paler skin and a Mandarin-sounding tonal language; they call themselves Awatwa ("abandoned people").[24]
15th–19th century
When the
Ming dynasty in China fell, Chinese refugees fled south and extensively settled in the Cham lands and Cambodia.[25] Most of these Chinese were young males, and they took Cham women as wives. Their children identified more with Chinese culture. This migration occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries.[26]
Early European colonial powers in Asia encountered Chinese communities already well-established in various locations. The
Kapitan Cina in various places was the representative of such communities towards the colonial authorities.
The
Qing conquest of the Ming caused the Fujian refugees of
Zhangzhou to resettle on the northern part of the Malay peninsula and Singapore, while those of
Amoy and
Quanzhou resettled on the southern part of the peninsula. This group forms the majority of the Straits Chinese who were English-educated. Others moved to
Taiwan at this time as well.
19th–early 20th century
In the mid-1800s, outbound migration from China increased as a result of the European colonial powers opening up
treaty ports.[31]: 137 The British colonization of Hong Kong further created the opportunity for Chinese labor to be exported to plantations and mines.[31]: 137
Chinese immigrants, mainly from the controlled ports of
Fujian and
Guangdong provinces, were attracted by the prospect of work in the
tin mines, rubber
plantations or the possibility of opening up new farmlands at the beginning of the 19th century until the 1930s in
British Malaya.
After
Singapore became the capital of the
Straits Settlements in 1832, the
free trade policy attracted many Chinese merchants from
Mainland China to trade, and many settled down in Singapore. Because of booming commerce which required a large labor force, the indentured Chinese
coolie trade also appeared in Singapore. Coolies were contracted by traders and brought to Singapore to work. The large influx of coolies into Singapore only stopped after
William Pickering became the Protector of Chinese. In 1914, the coolie trade was abolished and banned in Singapore. These populations form the basis of the
Chinese Singaporeans.
Peranakans, or those descendants of Chinese in Southeast Asia for many generations who were generally English-educated were typically known in Singapore as "Laokuh" (老客 – Old Guest) or "Straits Chinese". Most of them paid loyalty to the
British Empire and did not regard themselves as "
Huaqiao". From the 19th till the mid-20th century, migrants from China were known as "Sinkuh" (新客 – New Guest). A majority of them were coolies, workers on steamboats, etc. Some of them came to Singapore for work, in search of better living conditions or to escape poverty in China. Many of them also escaped to Singapore due to chaos and wars in China during the first half of the 20th century. They came mostly from the
Fujian, Guangdong and
Hainan provinces and, unlike Peranakans, paid loyalty to China and regarded themselves as "Huaqiao".
At the end of the 19th century, the Chinese government realized that
overseas Chinese could be an asset, a source of foreign investment, and a bridge to overseas knowledge; thus, it encouraged the use of the term "Overseas Chinese" (华侨).[32]
Among the provinces,
Guangdong had historically supplied the largest number of emigrants, estimated at 8.2 million in 1957; about 68% of the total overseas Chinese population at that time. Within Guangdong, the main emigrant communities were clustered in eight districts in the
Pearl River Delta (珠江三角洲): four districts known as
Sze Yup (四邑; 'four counties'); three counties known as
Sam Yup (三邑; 'three counties'); and the district of
Zhongshan (中山).[33] Because of its limited
arable lands, with much of its terrain either rocky or swampy; Sze Yup was the "pre-eminent sending area" of emigrants during this period.[34] Most of the emigrants from Sze Yup went to
North America, making
Toishanese a dominant
variety of the
Chinese language spoken in
Chinatowns in Canada and the United States.
In addition to being a region of major emigration abroad, Siyi (Sze Yup) was a melting pot of ideas and trends brought back by overseas Chinese, (華僑; Huáqiáo). For example, many
tong lau in
Chikan, Kaiping (Cek Ham,
Hoiping in
Cantonese) and
diaolou (formerly romanized as
Clock Towers) in
Sze Yup built in the early 20th century featured Qiaoxiang (僑鄉) architecture, i.e., incorporating architectural features from both the Chinese homeland and overseas.[35]
The first major immigration to America was during the
California goldrush of 1848–1855. Many Chinese, as well as people from other Asian countries, were prevented from moving to the United States as part of the
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
A similar law though less severe in scope was passed in Canada in 1885, imposing a
head tax instead of prohibiting immigration to Canada entirely. However,
a 1923 law in Canada prohibited Chinese immigration completely. The Chinese Exclusion Act would only be
fully repealed in the US in 1965 and in Canada
de jure in 1947 but de facto in the 1960s with the
opening up of immigration to Canada.
In the first half of the 20th century, war and revolution accelerated the pace of migration out of China.[31]: 127 The
Kuomintang and the
Communist Party competed for political support from overseas Chinese.[31]: 127–128
The
Kuomintang retreat to Taiwan in 1949 saw an emigration of approximately 2 million mainland Chinese to Taiwan.
Due to the political dynamics of the
Cold War, there was relatively little migration from the People's Republic of China to southeast Asia from the 1950s until the mid-1970s.[31]: 117
In the early 1960s, about 100,000 people were allowed to enter
Hong Kong. In the late 1970s, vigilance against illegal
migration to Hong Kong (香港) was again relaxed. Perhaps as many as 200,000 reached Hong Kong in 1979, but in 1980 authorities on both sides resumed concerted efforts to reduce the flow.[citation needed]
More liberalized emigration policies enacted in the 1980s as part of the
Opening of China facilitated the legal departure of increasing numbers of Chinese who joined their overseas Chinese relatives and friends. The
Four Modernizations program, which required
Chinese students and scholars, particularly
scientists, to be able to attend foreign education and research institutions, brought about increased contact with the outside world, particularly the
industrialized nations.[citation needed]
In 1983, emigration restrictions were eased as a result in part of the economic
open-door policy.[citation needed] In 1984, more than 11,500 business
visas were issued to Chinese citizens, and in 1985, approximately 15,000 Chinese scholars and students were in the
United States alone. Any student who had the economic resources could apply for permission to study abroad.
United States consular offices issued more than 12,500 immigrant visas in 1984, and there were 60,000 Chinese with approved visa petitions in the immigration queue.[citation needed]
The signing of the United States–China Consular Convention in 1983 demonstrated the commitment to more liberal emigration policies.[citation needed] Both sides agreed to permit travel for the purpose of family reunification and to facilitate travel for individuals who claim both Chinese and United States citizenship. However, emigrating from China remained a complicated and lengthy process mainly because many countries were unwilling or unable to accept the large numbers of people who wished to emigrate. Other difficulties included bureaucratic delays and, in some cases, a reluctance on the part of Chinese authorities to issue passports and exit permits to individuals making notable contributions to the modernization effort.[citation needed]
A much smaller wave of Chinese immigration to Singapore came after the 1990s, holding the citizenship of the
People's Republic of China and mostly
Mandarin-speaking Chinese from northern China. The only significant immigration to China has been by the
overseas Chinese, who in the years since 1949 have been offered various enticements to repatriate to their
homeland.[citation needed]
During the Xi Jinping administration, the number of Chinese
asylum seekers abroad increased to 613,000 people as of 2020.[43] As of 2023, illegal Chinese immigration to New York City has accelerated, and its
Flushing (法拉盛),
Queens neighborhood has become the present-day global epicenter receiving Chinese immigration as well as the international control center directing such migration.[38] Additionally, as of 2024, a significant new wave of
Chinese Uyghur Muslims is fleeing
religious persecution in northwestern China's
Xinjiang Province and seeking
religious freedom in New York, and concentrating in
Queens.[44]
In they've early 2020s, there have been an influx of Chinese migrants using Mexico's northern border to enter America and advance to New York City, termed "
ZouXian", translated in English to “walk the line”.[45]
In 2023, China saw its largest outflow of high-net-worth individuals with over 13,000 emigrating mostly to the U.S., Canada, and Singapore.[46]
^Wang, Gungwu (1994). "Upgrading the migrant: neither huaqiao nor huaren". Chinese America: History and Perspectives. Chinese Historical Society of America. p. 4.
ISBN0-9614198-9-X. In its own way, it [Chinese government] has upgraded its migrants from a ragbag of malcontents, adventurers, and desperately poor laborers to the status of respectable and valued nationals whose loyalty was greatly appreciated.
^Peter Kwong and Dusanka Miscevic (2005). Chinese America: the untold story of America's oldest new community.
The New Press.
ISBN978-1-56584-962-4.
^Pan, Lynn (1999). The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas. Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press. p. 36.
ISBN0674252101.
^Pan, Lynn (1999). The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 28–29.
ISBN0674252101.
^
abEileen Sullivan (24 November 2023).
"Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 November 2023. Most who have come to the United States in the past year were middle-class adults who have headed to New York after being released from custody. New York has been a prime destination for migrants from other nations as well, particularly Venezuelans, who rely on the city's resources, including its shelters. But few of the Chinese migrants are staying in the shelters. Instead, they are going where Chinese citizens have gone for generations: Flushing, Queens. Or to some, the Chinese Manhattan..."New York is a self-sufficient Chinese immigrants community," said the Rev. Mike Chan, the executive director of the Chinese Christian Herald Crusade, a faith-based group in the neighborhood.
Waves of Chinese emigration have happened throughout history. They include the emigration to
Southeast Asia beginning from the 10th century during the
Tang dynasty, to the
Americas during the 19th century, particularly during the
California gold rush in the mid-1800s; general emigration initially around the early to mid 20th century which was mainly caused by corruption, starvation, and war due to the
Warlord Era, the
Second Sino-Japanese War and the
Chinese Civil War; and finally elective emigration to various countries. Most emigrants were peasants and manual laborers, although there were also educated individuals who brought their various expertises to their new destinations.
Chronology of historical periods
11th century BCE to 3rd century BCE
The Zhou dynasty overthrew the Shang dynasty in 1046 BCE. This conquest marked the beginning of the Zhou rule and the expansion of their territorial control.[7]
Western Zhou: The Zhou people engaged in active military campaigns to expand their territory. As they conquered new regions, there was likely a movement of people to settle and administer these newly acquired lands.[8]
Eastern Zhou period: The Eastern Zhou period is characterized by the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE) and the Warring States period (475–221 BCE). During this time, the exchange of ideas and cultures between different states led to migration of scholars, artisans, and officials.[7]
210 BCE:
Qin Shi Huang (
Chinese: 秦始皇) dispatched
Xu Fu (
Chinese: 徐福) to sail overseas in search of
elixirs of immortality, accompanied by 3,000 virgin boys and girls. Records suggest Xu Fu's expedition settled in
Honshu,
Japan.
From the
Han dynasty onwards, Chinese military and agricultural colonies (
Chinese: 屯田) were established at various times in the
Western Regions, which in the early periods were lands largely occupied by an Indo-European people called the
Tocharians.
Many Chinese
merchants chose to settle down in the Southeast Asian ports such as
Champa,
Cambodia,
Java, and
Sumatra, and married the native women. Their children carried on trade.[10][11]
Borneo: Many Chinese lived in Borneo as recorded by Zheng He.
Champa: the
Daoyi Zhilüe documents Chinese merchants who went to Cham ports in
Champa, married
Cham women, to whom they regularly returned to after trading voyages.[12] A Chinese merchant from Quanzhou, Wang Yuanmao, traded extensively with Champa, and married a Cham princess.[13]
Han Chinese settlers came during the
Malacca Sultanate in the early 15th century. The friendly
diplomatic relations between China and Malacca culminated during the reign of Sultan
Mansur Syah, who married the Chinese princess
Hang Li Po. A senior minister of state and five hundred youths and maids of noble birth accompanied the princess to Malacca.[14] Admiral
Zheng He had also brought along 100 bachelors to Malacca.[15] The descendants of these two groups of people, mostly from Fujian province, are called the Baba (men) and Nyonya (women).
Ryūkyū Kingdom: Many Chinese moved to Ryukyu to serve the government or engage in business during this period. The
Ming dynasty sent from
Fujian 36 Chinese families at the request of the Ryukyuan King to manage oceanic dealings in the kingdom in 1392 during the
Hongwu Emperor's reign. Many Ryukyuan officials were descended from these Chinese immigrants, being born in China or having Chinese grandfathers.[16] They assisted in the Ryukyuans in advancing their technology and diplomatic relations.[17][18][19]
Siam: According to the clan chart of family name Lim, Gan, Ng, Khaw, Cheah, many Chinese traders lived there. They were amongst some of the Siamese envoys sent to China.
In 1405, under the
Ming dynasty, Tan Sheng Shou, the Battalion Commander Yang Xin (
Chinese: 杨欣) and others were sent to
Java's Old Port (
Palembang; 旧港) to bring the absconder
Liang Dao Ming (Chinese: 梁道明) and others to negotiate pacification. He took his family and fled to live in this place, where he remained for many years. Thousands of military personnel and civilians from
Guangdong and
Fujian followed him there and chose Dao Ming as their leader.
Early Chinese mariners had a variety of contacts with
Kenya.
Archaeologists have found Chinese
porcelain artifacts made during the
Tang dynasty (618–907) in Kenyan villages; however, these were believed to have been brought over by
Zheng He during
his 15th century ocean voyages.[20] On
Lamu Island off the Kenyan coast, local
oral tradition maintains that 20 shipwrecked Chinese sailors, possibly part of Zheng's fleet, washed up on shore there hundreds of years ago. Given permission to settle by local tribes after having killed a dangerous
python, they
converted to
Islam and married local women. Now[when?], they are believed to have just six descendants left there; in 2002, DNA tests conducted on one of the women confirmed that she was of Chinese descent. Her daughter, Mwamaka Sharifu, later received a PRC government scholarship to study
traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in China.[21][22] On
Pate Island, Frank Viviano described in a July 2005 National Geographic article how ceramic fragments had been found around Lamu which the administrative officer of the local Swahili history museum claimed were of Chinese origin, specifically from
Zheng He's voyage to East Africa. The eyes of the Pate people resembled Chinese and Famao and Wei were some of the names among them which were speculated to be of Chinese origin. Their ancestors were said to be from
indigenous women who intermarried with Chinese Ming sailors when they were shipwrecked. Two places on Pate were called "Old Shanga", and "New Shanga", which the Chinese sailors had named. A local guide who claimed descent from the Chinese showed Frank a graveyard made out of coral on the island, indicating that they were the graves of the Chinese sailors, which the author described as "virtually identical", to Chinese Ming dynasty tombs, complete with "half-moon domes" and "terraced entries".[23]
According to Melanie Yap and Daniel Leong Man in their book Colour, Confusions and Concessions: the History of Chinese in South Africa, Chu Ssu-pen, a Chinese mapmaker, had southern Africa drawn on one of his maps in 1320. Ceramics found in Zimbabwe and South Africa dated back to the era of the
Song dynasty in China. Some tribes to Cape Town's north claimed descent from Chinese sailors during the 13th century, their physical appearance is similar to Chinese with paler skin and a Mandarin-sounding tonal language; they call themselves Awatwa ("abandoned people").[24]
15th–19th century
When the
Ming dynasty in China fell, Chinese refugees fled south and extensively settled in the Cham lands and Cambodia.[25] Most of these Chinese were young males, and they took Cham women as wives. Their children identified more with Chinese culture. This migration occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries.[26]
Early European colonial powers in Asia encountered Chinese communities already well-established in various locations. The
Kapitan Cina in various places was the representative of such communities towards the colonial authorities.
The
Qing conquest of the Ming caused the Fujian refugees of
Zhangzhou to resettle on the northern part of the Malay peninsula and Singapore, while those of
Amoy and
Quanzhou resettled on the southern part of the peninsula. This group forms the majority of the Straits Chinese who were English-educated. Others moved to
Taiwan at this time as well.
19th–early 20th century
In the mid-1800s, outbound migration from China increased as a result of the European colonial powers opening up
treaty ports.[31]: 137 The British colonization of Hong Kong further created the opportunity for Chinese labor to be exported to plantations and mines.[31]: 137
Chinese immigrants, mainly from the controlled ports of
Fujian and
Guangdong provinces, were attracted by the prospect of work in the
tin mines, rubber
plantations or the possibility of opening up new farmlands at the beginning of the 19th century until the 1930s in
British Malaya.
After
Singapore became the capital of the
Straits Settlements in 1832, the
free trade policy attracted many Chinese merchants from
Mainland China to trade, and many settled down in Singapore. Because of booming commerce which required a large labor force, the indentured Chinese
coolie trade also appeared in Singapore. Coolies were contracted by traders and brought to Singapore to work. The large influx of coolies into Singapore only stopped after
William Pickering became the Protector of Chinese. In 1914, the coolie trade was abolished and banned in Singapore. These populations form the basis of the
Chinese Singaporeans.
Peranakans, or those descendants of Chinese in Southeast Asia for many generations who were generally English-educated were typically known in Singapore as "Laokuh" (老客 – Old Guest) or "Straits Chinese". Most of them paid loyalty to the
British Empire and did not regard themselves as "
Huaqiao". From the 19th till the mid-20th century, migrants from China were known as "Sinkuh" (新客 – New Guest). A majority of them were coolies, workers on steamboats, etc. Some of them came to Singapore for work, in search of better living conditions or to escape poverty in China. Many of them also escaped to Singapore due to chaos and wars in China during the first half of the 20th century. They came mostly from the
Fujian, Guangdong and
Hainan provinces and, unlike Peranakans, paid loyalty to China and regarded themselves as "Huaqiao".
At the end of the 19th century, the Chinese government realized that
overseas Chinese could be an asset, a source of foreign investment, and a bridge to overseas knowledge; thus, it encouraged the use of the term "Overseas Chinese" (华侨).[32]
Among the provinces,
Guangdong had historically supplied the largest number of emigrants, estimated at 8.2 million in 1957; about 68% of the total overseas Chinese population at that time. Within Guangdong, the main emigrant communities were clustered in eight districts in the
Pearl River Delta (珠江三角洲): four districts known as
Sze Yup (四邑; 'four counties'); three counties known as
Sam Yup (三邑; 'three counties'); and the district of
Zhongshan (中山).[33] Because of its limited
arable lands, with much of its terrain either rocky or swampy; Sze Yup was the "pre-eminent sending area" of emigrants during this period.[34] Most of the emigrants from Sze Yup went to
North America, making
Toishanese a dominant
variety of the
Chinese language spoken in
Chinatowns in Canada and the United States.
In addition to being a region of major emigration abroad, Siyi (Sze Yup) was a melting pot of ideas and trends brought back by overseas Chinese, (華僑; Huáqiáo). For example, many
tong lau in
Chikan, Kaiping (Cek Ham,
Hoiping in
Cantonese) and
diaolou (formerly romanized as
Clock Towers) in
Sze Yup built in the early 20th century featured Qiaoxiang (僑鄉) architecture, i.e., incorporating architectural features from both the Chinese homeland and overseas.[35]
The first major immigration to America was during the
California goldrush of 1848–1855. Many Chinese, as well as people from other Asian countries, were prevented from moving to the United States as part of the
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
A similar law though less severe in scope was passed in Canada in 1885, imposing a
head tax instead of prohibiting immigration to Canada entirely. However,
a 1923 law in Canada prohibited Chinese immigration completely. The Chinese Exclusion Act would only be
fully repealed in the US in 1965 and in Canada
de jure in 1947 but de facto in the 1960s with the
opening up of immigration to Canada.
In the first half of the 20th century, war and revolution accelerated the pace of migration out of China.[31]: 127 The
Kuomintang and the
Communist Party competed for political support from overseas Chinese.[31]: 127–128
The
Kuomintang retreat to Taiwan in 1949 saw an emigration of approximately 2 million mainland Chinese to Taiwan.
Due to the political dynamics of the
Cold War, there was relatively little migration from the People's Republic of China to southeast Asia from the 1950s until the mid-1970s.[31]: 117
In the early 1960s, about 100,000 people were allowed to enter
Hong Kong. In the late 1970s, vigilance against illegal
migration to Hong Kong (香港) was again relaxed. Perhaps as many as 200,000 reached Hong Kong in 1979, but in 1980 authorities on both sides resumed concerted efforts to reduce the flow.[citation needed]
More liberalized emigration policies enacted in the 1980s as part of the
Opening of China facilitated the legal departure of increasing numbers of Chinese who joined their overseas Chinese relatives and friends. The
Four Modernizations program, which required
Chinese students and scholars, particularly
scientists, to be able to attend foreign education and research institutions, brought about increased contact with the outside world, particularly the
industrialized nations.[citation needed]
In 1983, emigration restrictions were eased as a result in part of the economic
open-door policy.[citation needed] In 1984, more than 11,500 business
visas were issued to Chinese citizens, and in 1985, approximately 15,000 Chinese scholars and students were in the
United States alone. Any student who had the economic resources could apply for permission to study abroad.
United States consular offices issued more than 12,500 immigrant visas in 1984, and there were 60,000 Chinese with approved visa petitions in the immigration queue.[citation needed]
The signing of the United States–China Consular Convention in 1983 demonstrated the commitment to more liberal emigration policies.[citation needed] Both sides agreed to permit travel for the purpose of family reunification and to facilitate travel for individuals who claim both Chinese and United States citizenship. However, emigrating from China remained a complicated and lengthy process mainly because many countries were unwilling or unable to accept the large numbers of people who wished to emigrate. Other difficulties included bureaucratic delays and, in some cases, a reluctance on the part of Chinese authorities to issue passports and exit permits to individuals making notable contributions to the modernization effort.[citation needed]
A much smaller wave of Chinese immigration to Singapore came after the 1990s, holding the citizenship of the
People's Republic of China and mostly
Mandarin-speaking Chinese from northern China. The only significant immigration to China has been by the
overseas Chinese, who in the years since 1949 have been offered various enticements to repatriate to their
homeland.[citation needed]
During the Xi Jinping administration, the number of Chinese
asylum seekers abroad increased to 613,000 people as of 2020.[43] As of 2023, illegal Chinese immigration to New York City has accelerated, and its
Flushing (法拉盛),
Queens neighborhood has become the present-day global epicenter receiving Chinese immigration as well as the international control center directing such migration.[38] Additionally, as of 2024, a significant new wave of
Chinese Uyghur Muslims is fleeing
religious persecution in northwestern China's
Xinjiang Province and seeking
religious freedom in New York, and concentrating in
Queens.[44]
In they've early 2020s, there have been an influx of Chinese migrants using Mexico's northern border to enter America and advance to New York City, termed "
ZouXian", translated in English to “walk the line”.[45]
In 2023, China saw its largest outflow of high-net-worth individuals with over 13,000 emigrating mostly to the U.S., Canada, and Singapore.[46]
^Wang, Gungwu (1994). "Upgrading the migrant: neither huaqiao nor huaren". Chinese America: History and Perspectives. Chinese Historical Society of America. p. 4.
ISBN0-9614198-9-X. In its own way, it [Chinese government] has upgraded its migrants from a ragbag of malcontents, adventurers, and desperately poor laborers to the status of respectable and valued nationals whose loyalty was greatly appreciated.
^Peter Kwong and Dusanka Miscevic (2005). Chinese America: the untold story of America's oldest new community.
The New Press.
ISBN978-1-56584-962-4.
^Pan, Lynn (1999). The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas. Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press. p. 36.
ISBN0674252101.
^Pan, Lynn (1999). The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 28–29.
ISBN0674252101.
^
abEileen Sullivan (24 November 2023).
"Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 November 2023. Most who have come to the United States in the past year were middle-class adults who have headed to New York after being released from custody. New York has been a prime destination for migrants from other nations as well, particularly Venezuelans, who rely on the city's resources, including its shelters. But few of the Chinese migrants are staying in the shelters. Instead, they are going where Chinese citizens have gone for generations: Flushing, Queens. Or to some, the Chinese Manhattan..."New York is a self-sufficient Chinese immigrants community," said the Rev. Mike Chan, the executive director of the Chinese Christian Herald Crusade, a faith-based group in the neighborhood.