Abstract
China is not exempt from the social and economic influences of migration. Given its rapid economic development in recent decades, both immigration to and emigration from China are increasing. The increase has been so rapid that in the last four decades China has become one of the largest sources of migrants internationally, with a stock of 9.5 million Chinese living outside of China in 2015, according to United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). Presently, China ranks fourth in number of global migrants, next to India, Mexico and Russia. This increase in migration accompanying economic development is not unprecedented. Some scholars argue that a rise in real wages can be a significant contributing factor to emigration.
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Notes
- 1.
The total number of Chinese overseas workers was calculated by deducting the total students from the total Chinese migrants stock.
- 2.
The EU is currently negotiating a comprehensive EU-China investment agreement which provides for progressive liberalization of investments ns and elimination of restrictions for investors to each other markers. It will also provide a simpler a more secure legal framework to investors of both sides, by securing predictable long term access to EU and Chinese markets. Available from http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/china/.
- 3.
- 4.
Student visitors are granted a visa for a maximum of 6 months in duration or in a very small number of cases for 11 months if studying an English Language course. Student visitors are not counted as long-term migrants and cannot extend their stay, so they are not included within the reference to study visas in this section.
- 5.
Tier 4 (student) visa is a designated visa category for international students from outside EEA and Switzerland, with offer of place in a course in British university or college. Three types of Tier 4 visas are available, Short-term study visa (between 6 and 11 months), Tier 4 (Child) student visa (between age 4 and 17) and Tier 4 (general) student visa (more than 16 years old) (both more than 1 year). Further, restrictions are also placed on rights to work and access to public funding.
- 6.
The U.K. issues work-related visa according to three categories, including Tier 1 visa (post study visa) is designed for the applicant must be either entrepreneur with at least £50,000, internationally recognized exceptional talent, or investor with at least £2 million; Tier 2 visa is designed for applicants that received offers for working in companies in the U.K., work transfer or other similar work related circumstances for more than six months; Tier 5 visa is targeted at applicants that need to work in the U.K. for less than six months, or otherwise referred to as temporary workers. (But these visas are not included in this analysis).
- 7.
The analysis takes into account students who undertake studies for at least one year (i.e. non short term students).
- 8.
In this section, Chinese migrant investor is defined as a Chinese entrepreneur who acquires overseas investments and is granted entry to the destination country a specific investment visa. This would exclude a regular migrant (labor migrant), who acquires property or an investment during their stay.
- 9.
Hurun and Visa Consulting Group undertook the immigration and the Chinese high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in 2014, based on a survey of 141 Chinese HNWIs currently in the process of emigration or considering emigrating. Respondents had family wealth of no less than RMB 6 million (USD $1 million), with an average wealth RMB 42 million (USD $7 million). The survey was carried out in March and April 2014, from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
- 10.
IOM definition of diaspora: Individuals who are migrants or descendants of migrants, and whose identity and sense of belonging, either real or symbolic, have been shaped by their migration experience and background, are often referred to collectively as diaspora. IOM also refers to them as transnational communities, because in a world of unprecedented global mobility, they comprise people who are connected to more than one country. The transnational nature of diaspora implies that these people are crucial when it comes to connecting countries and communities, because they can call on multiple networks, relate to different identities and share a sense of belonging to more than one community.
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Wang, H., Miao, L. (2019). Talent Migration In and Out of China at a Glance. In: China’s Domestic and International Migration Development. International Talent Development in China. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6256-9_5
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