Chinese Immigrants in Europe

Image, Identity and Social Participation

Yue Liu, Simeng Wang, Yue Liu, Simeng Wang

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9783110616002
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Chinese History
• Index: Social Sciences

We are living in a world in which the visible and invisible borders between nations are being shaken at an unprecedented pace. We are experiencing a wave of international migration, and the diversity of migrants – in terms of how they identify, their external and self-image, and their participation in society – is increasingly noticeable. After the introduction of the Reform and Opening Up policy, over 10 million migrants left China, with Europe the main destination for Chinese emigration after 1978. This volume provides multidisciplinary answers to open questions: How and to what extent do Chinese immigrants participate in their host societies? What kind of impact is the increasing number of highly qualified immigrants from China having on the development and perception of overseas Chinese communities in Europe? How is the development of Chinese identity transforming in relation to generational change? By focusing on two key European countries, Germany and France, this volume makes a topical contribution to research on (new) Chinese immigrants in Europe.

II Chinese immigrants in France

Highly skilled Chinese immigrants in France: Career choices, marriage behavior and political participation

Simeng Wang

Abstract

This paper focuses on highly skilled Chinese immigrants in France, who were born in China and partly educated there then came to France in the 2000s with the intent of pursuing higher education. Once they graduated, they became migrants when they chose to change their administrative status. Compared with other categories of Chinese immigrants in France, such as undocumented migrants, unskilled economic migrants and political refugees, this group of highly skilled people is rapidly growing in number, although it remains understudied. Based on qualitative fieldwork studies conducted since 2010 in the Paris region, this paper sets out with an introduction to the history of Chinese immigration in France and a presentation of the social characteristics of highly skilled Chinese immigrants. The article is then organized around three thematic parts: career choices, marriage behavior and political participation. Using this three-step analysis, this paper aims to paint a picture of the varied living conditions of highly skilled Chinese immigrants in France and to explore how they interact with other Chinese sub-groups living in France (such as low-skilled economic migrants and French-born Chinese) and with the rest of the French population including other ethnic groups. This paper also examines how these highly skilled immigrants play a role with their transnational practices and contribute to the transformation of Chinese society.

1 Introduction

In the wake of the Chinese economic boom, mobility between China and Europe has been experiencing new developments. Chinese migration has not only become more diversified in its geographical origins, but also in terms of occupations and motives for migrating. An increasing number of Chinese students stay in Europe to pursue their careers after they graduate. This paper focuses on young Chinese migrants of the first generation who came to France in the 2000s, live in the Paris region and have a relatively large amount of educational and cultural capital. Born in China and partly educated there, this social group came to France in the 2000s with the intent of pursuing higher education. Once they graduated, they became migrants when they chose to change their administrative status, from “student” to “migrant” for “professional” reasons, “skills and talents”, or “private and family life”. They are skilled Chinese newcomers with economic, social and cultural resources. Compared with other categories of Chinese migrants in France, such as undocumented migrants, unskilled economic migrants, and political refugees, this group of highly skilled young people is growing rapidly in number and yet has been understudied (Wang 2017b).

Based on fieldwork surveys of dozens of such respondents in Paris conducted since 2010, the paper begins by tracing the history of Chinese immigration to France and the social characteristics (number, composition) of this group of highly skilled immigrants. The paper is organized around three thematic parts: career choices, marriage behavior, and political expression and participation. Through this three-step analysis, this paper aims to paint a variegated landscape of the living conditions of this group, and to explore not only how these highly skilled Chinese newcomers interact with other Chinese oldcomers (i.e. shopkeepers and retailers of Zhejiang origin, undocumented Chinese migrants, etc.) and with the rest of the French community (other ethnic groups included) in the host society, but also how the transnational practices of these immigrants contribute to China, their native country. This study based in France provides a comparative perspective with German experiences and touches upon issues such as changes in the structure of Chinese communities across European countries.

2 The Chinese population in France: Migratory waves and literature

Most historians agree that there have been three major waves of Chinese immigration to France (Poisson 2006)¹. The first wave dates back to the early twentieth century when 140,000 workers were recruited for the labor force during the First World War (Ma 2012). The 1936 census counted just over 2,000 Chinese in Paris, some of who were employed in the leather industry (Guillon and Ma Mung 1991). After 1949, following the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, immigration slowed down, but resumed in the 1980s, following China’s Reform and Opening up Policy beginning in 1978.

The second wave of immigration began in 1975, after the eruption of nationalist movements and urban riots in former Indochina (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam). Refugee immigration soared between 1975 and 1980. Many of the first migrants acquired French nationality. Since the late 1990s, a new migration flow has emerged: immigration from urban areas in Northeast China (the Dongbeis). These migrants are often middle-aged women, who come alone and leave their families behind in China. Following the launch of the economic reforms, this region, known for its heavy industry, has undergone social and institutional turmoil. Following bankruptcy and privatization of state-owned enterprises, employees ended up unemployed. Since they were experiencing deep social and economic insecurity, many of them decided to migrate abroad (Cattelain et al. 2005).

Far from being considered a unified community, the diverse composition of the Chinese population in Paris, in terms of regions of origin, gender distribution and socio-economic status, is because of the different waves of immigration. The so-called “Wenzhou migrants” – whose migration flows date back to the beginning of the twentieth century before they resumed and picked up again substantially in the 1980s – come from rural areas and have a relatively low cultural capital, and emigrate mainly for economic reasons with their whole family. Often benefiting from a social network based on extended kinship and relationships with compatriots, Wenzhou migrants begin by working within an economic structure owned by a member of their community – the three sectors mostly being catering, tailoring and leatherworking – pursuing the project until they may possibly initiate their own family business via tontine at some point. On the contrary, the Dongbeis, residing in urban areas and belonging to the middle classes before their emigration from China, they experience a social downgrading once they arrive in France.

Despite all the research devoted to first generation migrants, the social trajectories of intellectual and skilled migrants have received little attention. And very few Francophone sociological studies have focused on descendants of Chinese migrants so far (Wang 2012; Wang 2014), particularly in light of the abundant research investigating descendants of African origin. In this article, we delve into the lives of high-skilled Chinese newcomers who immigrated to France after 2000. Their massive arrival marks the fourth and the most recent wave of Chinese immigration in France (Wang 2017b).

3 A very brief history of Chinese high-skilled newcomers’ immigration to France

Three migratory flows of Chinese students to France can be identified in the time that followed the foundation of the Republic of China in 1912. The first influx dates back to the Chinese Work-Study Movement in France which aimed at encouraging young Chinese students to go to France (1912–1925) (Barman and Dulioust 1981). During the Second World War (the Sino-Japanese War), the Civil War of 1945–1949 and the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), the mobility of Chinese students abroad, especially to Europe, halted. Very few left China during this period because of the wars and the ban on getting in contact with revisionist and capitalist culture. The main destination for those who were allowed to leave was the former USSR, especially in the 1950s. The second wave of Chinese students’ migration to Western countries occurred in the early 1980s. This movement coincided with the implementation of the Reform and Opening-up Policy launched in 1978.

The third wave of Chinese students to France and also the most important and significant one – that is the focus of this article – took place in 2005. This wave corresponds to the fourth wave of Chinese migration to France including all social categories. After joining the World Trade Organization in 2001, China wished to promote international economic cooperation. The Chinese government therefore sought to develop cultural and academic cooperation on a global scale through events such as the Chinese Year in France and the French Year events in China. These cultural exchanges took place in two stages: a Chinese Year was set up from October 2003 to July 2004 in France, and a French Year from October 2004 to July 2005 in China. The Programme des grandes écoles françaises (faguo daxuexiao xiangmu) was a pioneering initiative for university exchanges within the framework of this French Year in China. Each year, fifty Chinese high school students were selected from all over China and received a five-year grant to graduate from a French engineering school. Even if the program was elitist in nature, the democratization of Franco-Chinese university exchanges has gradually implied less number of future Chinese students going to France. In 2010, during President Hu Jintao’s visit to France, the French President confirmed that more than 30,000 Chinese students were residents of France. One year later, China had become the second cou...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword by the editors
• Introduction
• I Chinese immigrants in Germany
• II Chinese immigrants in France
• III Chinese immigrants in Europe: New dynamics
• Index