From Africa to China: the Adventure of African Merchants Entrepreneurs

The African migrant population in mainland China has expanded substantially since China’s WTO accession in 2001. In Guangzhou, the official number of legal African residents reached 16,000 in 2014. However, the total number of African immigrants, including illegal immigrants, is estimated to be ten times greater than the government record. The growth of the African community has contributed to social tensions. Local authorities, who previously made policy for a more homogenous population, now must account for advancing cosmopolitanism when making policy.

In reality, the impact of African migrants on the local economy and society is complex. In Mobility and Transiency of Social Spaces: African Merchant Entrepreneurs in China, Dr. Tabea Bork-Hüffer explores the ways in which African migrants and entrepreneurs have become part of the social and commercial fabric of two South China cities: Guangzhou and Foshan. By surveying 234 merchants, she finds that through their trans-local and transnational activities, experiences, and residential trajectories, African merchants contribute to the emergence of transient commercial and residential spaces in both cities, which benefit the Chinese economy and society.

Settled in major cities such as Guangzhou, Yiwu, Hong Kong, and Macao, the majority of African migrants are involved in trading businesses, scalping garments, electronic products, cosmetic products, and car and motorbike accessories. This is unlike portrayals in Chinese media, that associate African migrants with lack of education, crime, and other unsavory activities. The findings show that many African merchants in Guangzhou and Foshan are well-educated and successful businesspeople.

China is unlikely to be their first stop. 64 percent of interviewees have been in another migration destination before, with many visiting three or more countries before arriving in China. West African states and South Africa have dominated as the respondents’ previous intermediary stops on the African continent. Half as often, interviewees lived in Southeast Asian, South Asian, and East Asian countries, dominated by Hong Kong and Macao. After Hong Kong, Dubai is the second most frequently named city.

A large network of friends and family formed the primary support for African merchants. However, their commercial links to their home countries are still stronger than their links to China: 56 percent state they have business partners or co-workers located in their home countries, compared with only 20 percent in China. When these merchants sought help within their communities, Chinese friends mostly support them with translation and business-related problems. African friends more often lend money, solve legal disputes, and provide psychosocial support.

In addition to individual networks, roughly half of respondents were members or regularly participated in the activities of one or several types of economic, social-cultural, or recreational groups. Church and religious groups top the list due to a large number of Christians (77 percent) and Muslims (21 percent) among the population. Besides religious groups, home country unions play a large role. By keeping in contact with the Chinese authorities, these unions support the interest of their own people. They also help collect money to buy airfare for deported community members. Through organizing different types of social events such as soccer games, community discussions, and music parties, unions also take on a critical social role in the African migrant community.

Biased and restrictive immigration and visa policies towards foreigners in general and Africans in particular suppress the opportunities of these agents in shaping and participating in various social spaces and foster social discrimination. The situation is particularly aggravated in Guangzhou, where the municipal government has been strictly monitoring and controlling its African migrant population. Meanwhile, authorities in Yiwu adopted a more interactive and open approach to immigration.

On the one hand, as explained by Dr. Bork-Hüffer, external restrictions lead to acts of resilience through network building and push unions and church groups to form a social space in which migrants gather and find help. On the other hand, migrants begin to intermingle with the Chinese and establish various types of contacts as business partners, friends, and even develop relationships with Chinese partners. Therefore, it is urgent for local and state-level authorities to create an appropriate legalization pathway and reform the corresponding institutions to better support the immigrant community. In addition, more publicity and education programs on immigration issues should be made, to neutralize the domestic people’s view of African immigrants.

Article Source: Mobility and Transiency of Social Spaces: African Merchant Entrepreneurs in China, Tabea Bork-Hüffer, Birte Rafflenbeul, Zhigang Li, Frauke Kraas, Desheng Xue, (2014), Published at: Wiley Online Library.

Feature Photo: cc/(Mario Madrona)