British Chinese

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British Chinese
Total population
247,403 [1]
Regions with significant populations
London, Manchester, Birmingham, Brighton, Liverpool
Languages
British English, Chinese (mainly regional dialects including Cantonese, Hakka and others; also Mandarin)
Religions
Buddhism, Christianity, others
Related ethnic groups
Mainland Chinese, Overseas Chinese

British Chinese, also Chinese British, Chinese Britons or British-born Chinese, are people of Chinese ancestry who were born in or have immigrated to the United Kingdom. They are part of the Chinese diaspora, or Overseas Chinese. The British Chinese community is thought to be the oldest Chinese community in Europe, if not the oldest in Western Europe, with the first Chinese coming from the ports of Tianjin and Shanghai in the early 19th century.

Today, most of the British Chinese are people or are descended from people who were themselves overseas Chinese when they entered the United Kingdom. The majority are from former British colonies, such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and also other countries such as Vietnam. People from mainland China and Taiwan and their descendants constitute a relatively small proportion of the British Chinese community.

Contents 1 History 1.1 19th century 1.2 20th century 1.2.1 Chinese sailors in Liverpool and their legacy 1.3 Illegal incidents 2 Demographics 2.1 Population 2.2 Geographic distribution 2.3 Education and employment 2.4 Health and welfare 2.4.1 Smoking and drinking[8] 2.5 Inter-ethnic marriage 3 Lists 3.1 Notable British Chinese 3.2 Organisations 4 Footnotes 5 References 6 See also 6.1 Other related communities 7 External links 7.1 Reports 7.2 Research 7.3 Statistics 8 Further reading

History

19th century

The first settlement of Chinese people in the United Kingdom dates from the early 19th century. In particular were port cities such as Liverpool and London; particularly the Limehouse area in East London, where the first Chinatown was established in Britain and Europe.

20th century

The largest wave of Chinese immigration took place during the 1950s and 1960s and consisted predominantly of male agricultural workers from the New Territories in Hong Kong. This also included immigration, indirectly via Hong Kong, from the surrounding Guangdong province in China. The majority of these men were employed in the then growing Chinese catering industry. Chinese run laundry businesses were the other major source of employment for Chinese people in the UK, but it was a declining industry and Chinese run laundries are non-existent today. By 2004, according to official figures, just under half of Chinese men and 40% of Chinese women in employment worked in the distribution, hotel and restaurant industry.^[2]

In several major cities there are Chinatowns, which are tourist attractions and where Chinese restaurants and businesses predominate, although in some cases few Chinese people live there.^[3]

Since the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, restrictions have been placed on immigration from current and former British colonies, and these have been tightened by successive governments. Significant Chinese migration to Britain did continue by relatives of settled Chinese and by those qualified for skilled jobs, until the end of the 1970s. Today, a significant proportion of British Chinese are second and third generation descendants of these post-World War II immigrants.

The 1981 British Nationality Act deprived Hong Kong British passport holders of the right of abode in the United Kingdom, an issue that caused some controversy in the years leading up to the territory's handover to China in 1997. After the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, it was considered necessary to devise a British Nationality Selection Scheme to enable some of the population to obtain British citizenship to maintain confidence in Hong Kong and to counteract the effects of the emigration of many of its most talented residents. The United Kingdom made provision to grant citizenship to 50,000 families, whose presence was important to the future of Hong Kong, under the British Nationality Act (Hong Kong) 1990.

See also: British nationality law, British nationality law and Hong Kong.

The most significant migration from mainland China commenced from the mid-1980s onward. This coincided with the Chinese government's relaxed restrictions on emigration, although most left for the United States.

Chinese sailors in Liverpool and their legacy

The first presence of Chinese people in Liverpool dates back to the early 19th century, with the main influx arriving at the end of the 19th century. This was in part due to Alfred Holt and Company establishing the first commercial shipping line to focus on the then China trade. From the 1890s onwards, small numbers of Chinese began to set up businesses catering to the Chinese sailors working on Holt's lines and others. Some of these men married working class British women, resulting in the largest number of British-born Eurasian Chinese being born during World War II in Liverpool. At the beginning of the War, there were up to 20,000 Chinese mariners in the city.

In 1942, there was a strike for rights and pay equal to that of white mariners. The strike lasted for 4 months. For the duration of the War these men were labelled as "troublemakers" by the shipowners and the British Government. At the end of the conflict, they were forbidden shore jobs, their pay was cut by two-thirds and they were offered only one-way voyages back to China. Hundreds of men were forced to leave their families, with many of their Eurasian children continuing to live in and around Liverpool's Chinatown.^[4]

Illegal incidents

In recent years, there has been an increase in illegal immigrants coming from mainland China and other countries into the United Kingdom, some of whom pay people traffickers (so-called "snakeheads") to smuggle them into many Western countries. Due to historical and cultural reasons, a sizeable proportion originate from Fujian province in southeast China. Others are citizens from the Commonwealth countries (mostly former British colonies), who have been able to obtain tourist or student visas relatively easily and remain in the UK after their visas have expired. Most work in the black economy or are employed as illegal cheap labour, usually in agriculture. This has been publicised in tragic consequences (see 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster).

Demographics

Population

The population figure of 243,258 (approximately 0.5% of the total UK population and around 5% of the total non-white population in the UK), cited from figures produced by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) is based on the 2001 national census. However, it may not be an entirely accurate figure of the current population of people of Chinese origin in the UK. Reasons for this include: some did not participate in the 2001 Census, some did not specify their ethnic group in the census, either intentionally or unintentionally, and successive Chinese migration to the UK since 2001.

A recent publication from the ONS, "Focus on Ethnicity and Religion (October) 2006"^[5] gives some detailed figures on the makeup of the UK's Chinese population that were based on the information by those who identified themselves as 'Chinese' in the United Kingdom Census 2001.

• Total population: 243,258.
• Geographical distribution: 33% of the Chinese in Britain live in London, 13.6% in the South East, 11.1% in the North West.
• Birthplace: 29% in Hong Kong, 25% England, 19% China, 8% Malaysia, 4% Vietnam, 3% Singapore, 2.4% Scotland, 2% Taiwan, 0.9% Wales, 0.1% Northern Ireland.
• Religion: 53% of Chinese reported no religious affiliation, 21.1% Christian, 15.1% Buddhist.
• Occupation: Of all ethnic groups, Chinese had the highest proportion as students (about a third) and the lowest in "routine/manual" occupations (17%).

It should be noted, however, that in the United Kingdom, "Asian demographics" and "Chinese demographics" are separate. In UK usage, the word "Asian" or "British Asian" when describing people usually refers to those from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, etc.).

Geographic distribution

Compared to most ethnic minorities in the UK, the Chinese tend to be more widespread and decentralised. However, significant numbers of British Chinese people can be found in: Birmingham, Brighton, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Swansea. In Northern Ireland, Chinese make up the largest non-white minority, although the population of roughly 10,000 is relatively small.

Many locations with a high visible Chinese cultural presence are called Chinatowns. Liverpool's Chinatown is situated around the Berry Street and Duke Street area in the city centre. The Ceremonial Archway, which was built in Shanghai, China, is located at the heart of Liverpool's Chinatown. Before World War II, the original Chinatown was situated around Pitt Street. In London, there is a Chinatown centred around Gerrard Street, Soho, in the West End of central London which has many Chinese restaurants and businesses; however, it is today mostly a commercial area, as most Chinese live in other parts of London, especially north London and Colindale in particular. Sheffield's unofficial Chinatown is London Road.

Education and employment

In terms of educational achievement, figures in 2002 showed that Chinese pupils were more likely to gain five or more A*-C GCSE grades than any other ethnic group, with 77% of Chinese girls and 71% of Chinese boys respectively achieving that target. Chinese school pupils had the lowest exclusion rate at 2 per 10,000.

A British Chinese person was also more likely to possess a university degree, or hold a job in a professional class, than the average Briton, but conversely, British Chinese people had the highest proportion with no qualifications (20%), and twice the unemployment rate (10%) compared to white Britons (5%). Chinese men also have the highest rate of working-age economic inactivity (defined as those of working-age not available for work and/or not actively seeking work) of all males at 37%, twice the rate for white British men. The vast majority of economically inactive Chinese men are students.^[6]

The Chinese are more likely to be self-employed (16%) than any other ethnic group except for Pakistanis. In 2004, just under half of Chinese men in employment worked in the distribution, hotel and restaurant industry, compared with one sixth of their white British counterparts. Chinese women are also concentrated in the distribution, hotel and restaurant industry, two fifths worked in this industry in 2004.

The British Chinese are most likely to be employed in managerial and professional occupations (38 percent), compared with 27% for white Britons.

Health and welfare

Chinese men and women were the least likely to report their health as ‘not good’ of all ethnic groups. Chinese men and women had the lowest rates of long-term illness or disability which restricts daily activities. The British Chinese population (5.8%) were least likely to be providing informal care (unpaid care to relatives, friends or neighbours). Around 0.25% of the British Chinese population were residents in hospital and other care establishments.^[7]

Smoking and drinking^[8]

• Chinese men (17%) were the least likely to smoke of all ethnic groups.
• Less than 10% of Chinese women smoked.
• Less than 10% of the Chinese adult population drank above the recommended daily alcohol guidelines on their heaviest drinking day.

Inter-ethnic marriage

The British Chinese have some of the highest inter-ethnic marriage rates in the country compared to other ethnic minority groups (and including the white population). According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, 30% of Chinese women intermarried, a figure twice that for Chinese men (15%).^[9]

Lists

Notable British Chinese

See: List of British Chinese people.

Organisations

See: List of British Chinese organisations.

Footnotes

• In British nationality law, a person can be naturalised or registered as a British citizen. This difference in the law is not important in this article.
• Normally, ethnic Chinese people holding a British National (Overseas) passport are not considered to be "British Chinese", as they do not normally hold the right of abode in the UK. Ethnic Chinese people who had obtained British Citizenship in Hong Kong prior to handover and do not normally reside in the UK are not a main concern of this article.

References

See also

• Chinatown
• Model minority
• Sinophobia

Other related communities

• Overseas Chinese
• Chinese American
• Chinese Australian
• Chinese Canadian
• Chinese New Zealander

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