According to the Migration Information Source, reliable statistics on African migration to China are scarce. Perhaps one of the biggest ‘pull’ factors of China is the quest among Chinese people to learn the English language. This has created many opportunities for people throughout African to head east and teach English. The three main types of African migrants to China are businessmen, students, and English teachers. While the statistics as to which groups is the largest are sketchy, it would seem that when compared to immigrants from other countries, African immigrants to China tend to be highly educated.
One group of African immigrants are skilled businessmen. With China offering goods at a significantly cheaper rate than the West many business men come to China to buy cheap goods to sell in African markets; or they come to China to facilitate trade in raw materials, primarily oil and minerals. 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.
Students are another significant migrant group from Africa. Many students are drawn to the east by the low cost educational opportunities. Although few of the consider China as their final destination, 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. These are beneficiaries of scholarships provided under special agreements between the Chinese government and their respective governments as part of China’s Aid program to Africa.
An increasing number of African English instructors, most of whom come from Anglophone African countries such as Ghana and Kenya, teach in Chinese schools, according to Tongkeh Fowale, a consultant and teacher living in China who has published articles on African migration to China for American Chronicle.
As the economies of China and African countries become more integrated, the movement of students, business people, and temporary workers will grow. As with many migrants, how they experience a foreign land depends largely on the circumstances that they leave behind and what they have in their hand to contribute in their new land. Many people who flee poverty and political turmoil make the most of every opportunity given to them in China while others who can be more ‘selective’ about the country they choose to immigrate to may be confronted with the harsh reality of xenophobia when applying for employment or a visa extension. As in many cases, those immigrants who choose to live outside of the laws of a country (there is a significant African population in the big cities who have chosen to live underground) become the standard by which all people of that nationality are judged. The plight of the African in China, is to disprove the preconceptions.<o:p></o:p>
Sources:
http://www.migrationinformation.org
http://www.americanchronicle.com
