Step foot in any major world city and you’re likely to find traces of China. London, Los Angeles, and Sydney all bear witness to the movement of the Chinese people in the form of a Chinatown—the hallmark of the Chinese diaspora. China has a long history of people moving overseas, from the workers who built the first transcontinental railway across the United States to the Chinese community in Thailand, the oldest and most influential in the world (in fact, the vast majority of Thailand’s Prime Ministers have been of Chinese descent).

Rough estimates place the number of overseas Chinese at some 50 million, a staggering number, most of whom can trace their ancestors back to Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan provinces. Largely concentrated in South East Asian countries they have risen to prominence in their adopted homes, often controlling large swathes of their economies—one such example being Malaysia, where they make up roughly 25% of the population but control around 70% of the country’s economy. Their influence and reach is without question.

However, with the opening up of modern China in the late 1970s and its subsequent growing international presence, a new wave of Chinese settlers has set out to conquer the world in a very different way, signaling a new chapter in the Chinese diaspora story. Differing from the earlier waves, the Southern provinces no longer make up the majority of the new diaspora. Every corner of China is now making its presence felt throughout the world.

Education is the word

From the very beginning, ever since China first flung open its doors to the world, students have and continue to flock abroad. The Four Modernizations program put in place by Deng Xiaoping made it no secret that China saw its students as the country’s future. However, with an education system starved from outside knowledge for decades, the country knew its elite needed to go abroad if the country was to ever stand a chance of achieving its goal of becoming an economic power by the early 21st century. However, this trend soon drew criticism due to the alarmingly high rate of non-returners.

It was not until the mid-nineties that attitudes started changing towards those who chose to “study abroad, stay abroad”, nearly a decade after former Party Secretary Zhao Ziyang famously quipped that the country was “storing brain power overseas”. In fact, those who stayed abroad might have been doing the country a bigger favor in the long term than those who returned. With opportunities unavailable to them back at home at that time, they were able to continue their education abroad and cash in on the greater opportunities available to turn such knowledge into economic gains. Only now, have those who went abroad to study after 1978 got the means and amassed the money to invest in China in any real way. Despite China’s huge inflow of foreign investment, overseas Chinese are still much more likely to transfer technology to China than non-Chinese. With family and friends still in China, members of China’s modern diaspora unlike previous waves have even stronger emotional and physical ties to the country and as such they are the first ones likely to set up shop now and in the future.

Money makes the world go round

China’s modern diaspora also acts as a stepping stone for Chinese companies wanting to expand overseas, further shaping the economic reach of the country. Companies such as Chinese beverage giant Wahaha cashing in on this market now stock their products abroad (mainly in major Chinatowns), tapping into the growing demand for familiar products. With Chinese companies often struggling to tap into foreign markets, China’s modern diaspora acts as an important first step in setting up brand recognition abroad.

However, it is not just Chinese companies feeling the effects of China’s modern diaspora. With the 2008 baby milk powder scandal in China, parents are ever seeking safer alternatives outside the country, calling upon family and friends already abroad to snap up all they can find and send it back home. This huge outlay of cash has huge effects on local economies, often emptying shops of their baby milk powder in a matter of hours. This has led supermarkets in the UK to limit shoppers to only two cans of baby milk powder over a China export fear and subsequent shortfall in stock for local shoppers—a move not seen since rationing officially ended in the UK in 1954. The effects of China’s modern diaspora are without precedent.

Foreign passport

More often than not, members of China’s modern diaspora choose to exchange their Chinese passports for those from their adopted homes (mainly English-speaking countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia). Despite some negative press back home, they are in many ways doing the country a favor. With a new passport comes fewer travel restrictions, cheaper local education, the requirement to speak a foreign language, plus access to huge foreign markets. And by obtaining a foreign passport it allows the modern diaspora to cash in on the growing opportunities available to them. With a sluggish world economy and the wealth of prospects back in China (the economy grew 7.7 percent in the first quarter in 2013) Chinese businessmen often choose to leave their families in cities such as Vancouver, Los Angeles and London, while they return to China for work.

Film star Gong Li is just one famous example of a Chinese citizen who chose to obtain a foreign passport (she became a Singaporean citizen in 2008), yet continues to work in China. China’s modern diaspora is more about the movement of people than anything else.

Cultural bridge

Even if they choose to maintain their Chinese citizenship, the effects of China’s modern diaspora cannot be underestimated. Not only have they influenced the people around them, bringing new ideas and influences to the country, but those who went abroad have equally had an effect on local cultures and China’s image outside the country. Yao Ming, the Chinese basketball legend is one such example, who not only changed the way the world sees basketball players challenging stereotypes, but further spread the love of the sport back in China influencing huge numbers of people.

Born in Taiwan to parents from the Mainland, Ang Lee’s international influence on cinema and culture is ever growing. From Oscar winning Life of Pi to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (arguably the best known Chinese film outside the country), Ang Lee has reshaped the cinematic landscape both in China and in Hollywood, challenging and inspiring people across the globe.

Challenges ahead

However, there are still many Chinese who have decided to stay overseas, becoming permanent members of their adopted countries. A new study found that China has the worst brain drain in the world, something obviously worrying the country at a time when they hope to increase innovation-led economic growth. In 2010, former President Hu Jintao announced a 10-year plan to lure back those overseas and reverse the brain drain. Signing bonuses for specialist returnees at some state-run companies are as high as two million RMB (approximately 325,000 US dollars), plus a wealth of other perks. In fact, the UK went through a similar brain drain period in the 1970s, while South Korea has been in the same predicament ever since the Korean War. However, this has not stopped the two countries from becoming economic powerhouses of the 21st century.

China is in a situation most countries could only dream of being in, with impressive growth and an increasingly world savvy and educated population. The country is still in a great transitional period, as people across China are still flocking to the coastal mega cities to seek fame and fortune, which the great migration home every Chinese New Year is testament to. It has only been over 30 years since Deng Xiaoping put in place his Four Modernizations program and already the country is unrecognizable, having succeeded in becoming an economic power by the early 21st century. The country and its modern diaspora still have a long way to go; but if the success of previous waves is anything to go by, say hello to a very Chinese world.
 

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Keywords: Four Modernizations program Chinese diaspora China’s modern diaspora