Chinese people in Kazakhstan
Encyclopedia
The number of Chinese people in Kazakhstan is not very clear. There have been various migrations of ethnic minorities from China to Kazakhstan in the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as that of the Dungan people fleeing Qing Dynasty
forces after a failed 1862–1877 rebellion in northwest China, or the Uyghur and Kazakh exodus from Xinjiang
during the 1950s Great Leap Forward
; however, their descendants do not consider themselves to be "Chinese people
". The modern wave of migration from China only dates back to the early 1990s.
units in the region were redeployed to the borders with Tajikistan and Afghanistan in southern Xinjiang. Starting from them, many Chinese traders began flowing into Kazakhstan. When the Kazakhstani government first opened a consulate in Urumqi in 1997, it did not even issue visas to local people, but by 2004 it was possible for Chinese people to obtain business visas with an invitation from an organisation in Kazakhstan. Chinese citizens of Kazakh ethnicity do not require visas at all.
Some Kazakhstan popular media reports claimed there were as many as 300,000 Chinese people in Kazakhstan by the year 2000. An article from China's official Xinhua News Agency
repeated this same number in 2009. However, official entrance statistics showed only 28,000 in 2004, 34,000 in 2005, and 29,000 in 2006. Furthermore, surveys show that among migrants from China, non-Han ethnicities form the majority. 67% of Kazakhstanis expect that migration from China will increase in the future.
In the 2000s, independent entrepreneurs running import-export businesses, as well as larger investors, began to become more active. Most of the products which Chinese traders sell are purchased in the special economic zones in the Xinjiang border regions. Over 4,000 Chinese firms or Kazakhstani firms with some Chinese investors are officially registered with the government; however, , only 213 were active.
There is a Chinese bazaar in Almaty, the Barakholka Bazaar, which in addition to selling general Chinese-made products such as electronics or foodstuffs to local people, also sells products aimed at Chinese people such as Chinese pop music or Chinese-language newspapers. These are not in evidence in other urban areas. It came to be dominated by Uyghur and Dungan traders in the 1990s; it is actually located near the site of a former Dungan kolkhoz. The Dungan have often played an intermediary role in business ventures between migrants from China and local people.
.
one used in Kazakhstan, and also only speak Russian as a second language, if at all. They tend to find jobs at Chinese companies or joint ventures.
, oralman (the term for ethnic Kazakhs who settle in Kazakhstan under such government assistance) formed 1,109 out of 1,116 Chinese citizens with permanent official residency in Kazakhstan, and 3,907 out of 3,916 former Chinese citizens who acquired Kazakhstani nationality that year. Most are concentrated around Almaty and East Kazakhstan Province. They form the majority of teachers of the Chinese language at Kazakhstani universities.
s sparked a series of protests in Almaty in December and January over the possibility that Chinese labourers would be brought to the country to work the land.
According to a 2009 survey, national minorities, people between 18 and 29 years of age, and people in Almaty show the most tolerant attitudes towards Chinese. There is a popular perception that a large and rapidly-growing number of Chinese people marry Kazakhstani citizens to obtain permanent residency in the country, but in fact, there were only 74 such marriages between 1991 and 2007.
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
forces after a failed 1862–1877 rebellion in northwest China, or the Uyghur and Kazakh exodus from Xinjiang
Kazakh exodus from Xinjiang
The Kazakh exodus from Xinjiang occurred in waves during the 1950s and 1960s after the Communist victory in China.In 1936, after Sheng Shicai expelled 20,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Qinghai, Chinese Muslims led by General Ma Bufang massacred their fellow muslim Kazakhs, until there were 135 of...
during the 1950s Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
; however, their descendants do not consider themselves to be "Chinese people
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
". The modern wave of migration from China only dates back to the early 1990s.
Migration history
China and Kazakhstan agreed on visa-free travel in early 1992, which led to 150 to 200 Chinese citizens entering Kazakhstan each day and not returning to China. Most are believed to have simply used Kazakhstan as a transit point to Europe. Visa-free travel was terminated in 1993. The border between the two countries remained strictly controlled and highly militarised until the 1995 China–Kazakhstan Joint Declaration, following which People's Liberation ArmyPeople's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
units in the region were redeployed to the borders with Tajikistan and Afghanistan in southern Xinjiang. Starting from them, many Chinese traders began flowing into Kazakhstan. When the Kazakhstani government first opened a consulate in Urumqi in 1997, it did not even issue visas to local people, but by 2004 it was possible for Chinese people to obtain business visas with an invitation from an organisation in Kazakhstan. Chinese citizens of Kazakh ethnicity do not require visas at all.
Some Kazakhstan popular media reports claimed there were as many as 300,000 Chinese people in Kazakhstan by the year 2000. An article from China's official Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency
The Xinhua News Agency is the official press agency of the government of the People's Republic of China and the biggest center for collecting information and press conferences in the PRC. It is the largest news agency in the PRC, ahead of the China News Service...
repeated this same number in 2009. However, official entrance statistics showed only 28,000 in 2004, 34,000 in 2005, and 29,000 in 2006. Furthermore, surveys show that among migrants from China, non-Han ethnicities form the majority. 67% of Kazakhstanis expect that migration from China will increase in the future.
Business and employment
Entry of migrant workers from China, largely entering the country as employees of Chinese companies, dates back to 1993, when 559 workers from China entered the country. This grew to 1,457 by 2004 and 5,008 by 2006. Initially, most were concentrated in Almaty, but more are spreading out to southern and western Kazakhstan as well. They are commonly employed in energy and construction companies. Some Chinese who have officially entered the country on short-term business visas for the purpose of trade are also in reality employed as labourers by Chinese companies.In the 2000s, independent entrepreneurs running import-export businesses, as well as larger investors, began to become more active. Most of the products which Chinese traders sell are purchased in the special economic zones in the Xinjiang border regions. Over 4,000 Chinese firms or Kazakhstani firms with some Chinese investors are officially registered with the government; however, , only 213 were active.
There is a Chinese bazaar in Almaty, the Barakholka Bazaar, which in addition to selling general Chinese-made products such as electronics or foodstuffs to local people, also sells products aimed at Chinese people such as Chinese pop music or Chinese-language newspapers. These are not in evidence in other urban areas. It came to be dominated by Uyghur and Dungan traders in the 1990s; it is actually located near the site of a former Dungan kolkhoz. The Dungan have often played an intermediary role in business ventures between migrants from China and local people.
Media
A Xinjiang-based free newspaper aimed at Chinese people in Kazakhstan, the Hasakesitan Huaqiao Bao (哈萨克斯坦华侨报, literally "Kazakhstan Overseas Chinese Newspaper"), received permission from the Kazakhstan government in April 2009 to begin publication. The editors plan to publish it bilingually in both Russian and Chinese, with two issues of eight pages each per month. It is printed by the same department responsible for the Xinjiang Economic DailyXinjiang Economic Daily
The Xinjiang Economic Daily is a state-run daily newspaper published in the Xinjiang autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is published in the Chinese language only...
.
Ethnic Kazakhs among the migrants
The Kazakh government has sought to promote permanent settlement of ethnic Kazakhs from abroad in Kazakhstan by providing them with financial assistance and land grants in border areas. However, this eventually requires them to give up their Chinese nationality and right of residence; according to Xinjiang media, many later come to regret this move. They experience difficulty in integration because they are more used to the Perso-Arabic orthography for the Kazakh language rather than the CyrillicCyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
one used in Kazakhstan, and also only speak Russian as a second language, if at all. They tend to find jobs at Chinese companies or joint ventures.
, oralman (the term for ethnic Kazakhs who settle in Kazakhstan under such government assistance) formed 1,109 out of 1,116 Chinese citizens with permanent official residency in Kazakhstan, and 3,907 out of 3,916 former Chinese citizens who acquired Kazakhstani nationality that year. Most are concentrated around Almaty and East Kazakhstan Province. They form the majority of teachers of the Chinese language at Kazakhstani universities.
Inter-ethnic relations
Kazakhstanis generally express negative sentiments about the presence of the Chinese in their country. There is even some opposition to the presence or further migration of Uyghurs or Kazakhs from Xinjiang, because of the perception that their presence may draw more Han Chinese into the country as well. A 2009 proposal by the Chinese government to lease one million hectares of steppe for cultivation of soybeanSoybean
The soybean or soya bean is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean which has numerous uses...
s sparked a series of protests in Almaty in December and January over the possibility that Chinese labourers would be brought to the country to work the land.
According to a 2009 survey, national minorities, people between 18 and 29 years of age, and people in Almaty show the most tolerant attitudes towards Chinese. There is a popular perception that a large and rapidly-growing number of Chinese people marry Kazakhstani citizens to obtain permanent residency in the country, but in fact, there were only 74 such marriages between 1991 and 2007.