Momentum of Chinese migration scholarship in East and Southeast Asia

Abstract

Chinese people have had a presence in East and Southeast Asia for centuries. According to the United Nations (UN) classification, East and Southeast Asia include diverse economies. Our discussion follows the UN definition and focuses on these economies. In 2020, over 30 million Chinese lived in Southeast Asia in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam (Lockard, 2013; Wong, 2013; Zhuang & Wang, 2010). With the implementation of China’s Belt and Road Initiative launched in 2013, there has been rapid economic integration between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has resulted in a large volume of Chinese labour migration within the area (Fong & Shibuya, 2020; Van Chinh, 2013; Wong, 2013). According to UN data on the international migrant stock by destination and origin, the number of Chinese immigrants in East and Southeast Asia increased dramatically between 1990 and 2019, from about 825,000 to 2,084,000. In some countries, such as Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam, the mainland Chinese migrant population grew more than 100 per cent. It is clear that there has been a visible increase in the number of migrants from mainland China in the region. Despite the large number of migrants from mainland China, large-scale comparative studies of this migration flow have been surprisingly sparse. Using the same UN data set, Abel et al. (2019) and Fong et al. (2020) have explored general patterns of Asian migration. Yet, they did not focus on migration patterns from mainland China specifically. Studies based on individual-level survey data investigating the motivations and destination choices of Chinese migrants in the region are almost absent. The increase in migration of Chinese individuals to Southeast Asia inevitably has also led to the discussion about their economic and social integration. The economic integration of Chinese labour migrants to Southeast Asia is associated with the increasing bilateral trade of China with other countries in the region. The total trade between China and ASEAN rose from US$7 billion in 1990 to US$202 billion in 2007 (Zhuang & Wang, 2010). By 2013, China was the largest foreign investor in Myanmar, Lao PDR, and Cambodia. They found that Chinese products occupied a great part of the Southeast Asia market that helped the economic integration of local Chinese immigrant businessmen (Zhuang & Wang, 2010). However, the current literature on growing economic presence in various economies in East and Southeast Asia, and specifically the relationship