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E.g., 04/16/2024
Country Resource - China
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China

CN
  • Population...................................................................1,413,142,846 (2023 est.)
  • Population growth rate ............................................................0.18% (2023 est.)
  • Birth rate....................................................9.69 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
  • Death rate..................................................7.82 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
  • Net migration rate...............................-0.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
  • Ethnic groups*..............................Han Chinese 91.1%, ethnic minorities 8.9% (includes Zhang, Hui, Manchu, Uighur, Miao, Yi, Tujia, Tibetan, Mongol, Dong, Buyei, Yao, Bai, Korean, Hani, Li, Kazakh, Dai, and other nationalities) (2021 est.)

* The PRC officially recognizes 56 ethnic groups

CIA World Factbook

Image of man on steps in front of China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, China
Profile
January 28, 2022

China’s Rapid Development Has Transformed Its Migration Trends

China has a long history of international migration. Movement was sharply interrupted following the 1949 revolution but has rebounded in recent decades. Since 1979, the country has developed from one of mostly limited migration into one that is in many ways defined through its global interactions, although it continues to treat migration warily, as this country profile explains.

Recent Activity

Feature
January 4, 2012
Living In Between: The Chinese in South Africa

The past decade has brought tens of thousands of Chinese migrants to Africa, and well over half of all Chinese migrants to the continent head to South Africa. Yoon Jung Park of Rhodes University discusses the history of Chinese migration to South Africa, the various communities of Chinese currently residing in the country, and their levels of political, social, and economic integration.

Feature
January 4, 2012
China's Young Rural-to-Urban Migrants: In Search of Fortune, Happiness, and Independence

Most of China's roughly 145 million rural-to-urban migrants were born after 1980, making this population the "new generation" of internal migrant workers. Having been directly influenced by China's rapid economic growth and recent sociodemographic policy changes, this cohort of rural-urban migrants offers much to learn with respect to their motivations. This article discusses survey data indicating that new-generation migrants have somewhat different motivations and expectations than their more traditional counterparts, such as the desire for excitement, fun, and career development independent of the needs of the family back home.

Profile
May 31, 2011
China: An Emerging Destination for Economic Migration

Ronald Skeldon of the University of Sussex maps out the past and present migration patterns of China — the source of tens of millions of migrants around the globe — and discusses the country's budding status as an immigrant-receiving nation.

Feature
July 10, 2009
Migration in the Asia-Pacific Region

International migration from Asia grew dramatically in the 1970s and 1980s. Since the 1990s, migration within Asia has risen. Stephen Castles of the University of Oxford and Mark Miller of the University of Delaware examine regional trends in this article based on their book Age of Migration.

Feature
October 1, 2008
The Tibetan Diaspora: Adapting to Life outside Tibet (Part II)

Tibetans have integrated into Asian and Western societies since 1959 with different types of outcomes. In Part II of our two-part series, Seonaigh MacPherson, Anne-Sophie Bentz, and Dawa Bhuti Ghoso examine integration experiences, the diaspora's political success, the gaps between those in Tibet and Tibetans abroad, and what lies ahead for the Tibetan diaspora.

Feature
September 2, 2008
Global Nomads: The Emergence of the Tibetan Diaspora (Part I)

Approximately 122,000 Tibetans, including those of Tibetan ancestry, live outside their homeland. Seonaigh MacPherson, Anne-Sophie Bentz, and Dawa Bhuti Ghoso provide an in-depth look at Tibetan history and Tibetans' migration to India and the West in this first of our two-part series on the Tibetan diaspora.

Feature
August 6, 2008
China and Africa: Stronger Economic Ties Mean More Migration

Along with increased trade and Chinese investment in Africa has come new migration between the two regions. Malia Politzer places this movement in context and looks at the types of Chinese migrants going to Africa and the Africans going to China.

Feature
October 1, 2004
Cross-Border Human Flows in Northeast Asia

Tsuneo Akaha of the Monterey Institute of International Studies looks at emerging migration patterns in North Korea, China, Russia, and Japan.

Profile
April 1, 2004
China: From Exceptional Case to Global Participant

Ronald Skeldon of the University of Sussex maps out the migration patterns and policies of China, the source of tens of millions of migrants around the globe.

Feature
July 1, 2003
Europe Attracts More Migrants from China
Frank Laczko of the IOM examines how increasing numbers of Chinese immigrants are entering Europe.

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