A Survey of the African Diaspora in Guangzhou

Abstract

The end of the Cold War has a number of implications for Africa’s relationship with China. One such implication is the surge in human movement (i.e. migration) between Africa and China. During the 1990s, a relationship characterized by politics and diplomacy began to give way to another one characterized by economics and self-interest. While Africans, the majority of them self-sponsored migrants, began to travel to China looking for greener pastures, the Chinese under the auspices of the zouquchu programme began to travel to the continent searching for raw materials, investment niches and markets for manufactured goods. Prior to that decade, Africans, much like the Chinese were in Africa, were a rare sight and consequently an object of curiosity in China. The majority of the few Africans residing in China, like the majority of the few Chinese residing in Africa, were diplomats. The migrant numbers began to increase apace as a result of the migration that began during that first decade of the post-Cold War period. With regard to Africa, as a
result of the migration, an African diaspora has emerged in China – in cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Yiwu. This paper, sourced with literature as well as fieldwork conducted in Guangzhou during 2014-2017, surveys the African diaspora in Guangzhou, where the largest concentration of African population in China is found. A synthesis of history and sociology consists the framework of study.