Nigerians in China: Health maintenance, circulation and everyday transnationalism in Guangdong Province

The challenges facing Africans in Chinese cities have been examined from different perspectives, including healthcare-related challenges and barriers. However, how they navigate health problems through circulation and transnational practices has received scant attention. The article explored the importance of circulation and everyday transnationalism in health maintenance using qualitative data from 37 Nigerians in Guangdong Province, China. It revealed that transnational practices involving the flows of people, medicinal commodities and information were crucial in managing their health issues with circulating migrants, family members and healthcare professionals at home playing important roles. Circular migrants import herbal medicines and hard-to-acquire pharmaceutical drugs between Nigeria and China, family members and relatives also send over-the-counter drugs to migrants and health professionals in Nigeria supply medical information through transnational consultation. The article advanced the literature as it responds to the growing call for adopting a transnational lens for interrogating the link between migration and health.