Africans in China: A Sociocultural Study and Its Implications on ...

b. African professionals in China (teachers, professors, football players, government officials, etc.): 4,000 to 5,000

3. Tourists (continental Africans and Africans from the African Diaspora): 10,000 to 100,000. In 2010, there were 93,000 tourists from Africa, of which 79,000 were from South Africa.

4. Temporary business travelers (defined as people traveling as executives of medium to large companies): 10,000 to 20,000

This puts the total number of Africans at any given time in China between 400,000 and 500,000.

How are these Africans received in China? Fellow Africans I have interacted with, especially in the course of my field research, report cases of racism and other kinds of discrimination, which may stem from linguistic and cultural misunderstandings. However, this is not an entrenched systematic practice. On the contrary, there are many Chinese who are curious about Africans in a positive way because they have never come into contact with any Africans previously.

1.5. Africa-China Relations

African migration to China represents an important dimension in the burgeoning relationship between Africa and China, as is the case with Chinese migration to Africa. Africa-China relations have developed rapidly within the first decade of the 21st century. Indeed, it may be said that 21st-century Africa-China relations began in 1997 with the Asian financial crisis, which was followed by China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2001. During this period, there was a marked rise in the number of ordinary Africans coming into China to buy goods for resale in Africa, some of whom even settled down eventually in China with their own businesses. At the same time, there was a substantial increase in Chinese investments in Africa, which led to the presence of more than 2 million Chinese in Africa. This 21st-century