How many Chinese are there overseas? This number may not be clear to anyone. In the past, some people estimated that there were more than 20 million people, and now it is said that there are more than 30 million people. Since there is no formal registration in various places, there are no accurate figures. More than 20 million and more than 30 million are just rough estimates. However, Most people hold the figure of 30 million.
It is difficult to say how many Chinese people there are in the world. No one can say for sure how many overseas Chinese there are in the Philippines and how many Chinese people there are. There are no accurate figures. why? For the same reason, the authorities did not conduct a formal registration, where accurate figures are available.
In the past, according to general reports, there were about 50,000 overseas Chinese registered with the Philippine Immigration Bureau every year. Together with the naturalized Chinese, the total number of Chinese was about 1.5 million to 2 million, accounting for the total population of the Philippines. About 2%. However, according to information recently obtained by the Ci Qiao Foundation from the Immigration Bureau, there are more than 70,000 overseas Chinese registered with the Immigration Bureau every year. If those who hold travel documents but do not report to the Immigration Bureau for regular registration are included, the number of overseas Chinese in the Philippines It may be more than 70,000.
There are approximately tens to hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens who have entered the Philippines in the past 20 years. Although some of these people have changed their identities, there are also many who maintain Chinese nationality, and some of them may People do not report for annual registration. If these people are added together, the number of 100,000 people is probably not an exaggeration, right?
Due to the lack of formal statistics, not only are the numbers of overseas Chinese and Chinese in the Philippines uncertain, but this problem also exists in other countries in Southeast Asia. Once when I went to China to attend a conference, I met Mr. Zhang Mingkai, the president of Thousand Islands Daily in Surabaya, Indonesia, and the conversation involved the number of Chinese in Indonesia. He told the author that due to well-known reasons, most of the Chinese in Indonesia have now adopted local nationality, but how many Chinese are there? The official statement in Indonesia is 10 million, but according to local Chinese estimates, there are far more than this number, about 16 million. There is a difference of 6 million people between 10 million and 16 million. Since there is no official statistics, it is difficult to say which one is correct.
Given that local overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese have not been formally registered in various places for decades, it is impossible to get an accurate number. This is the case in the Philippines, Indonesia, and I believe it is also the case in other places. The number of Chinese people in the world can only be roughly said, there are about 30 million people.
The total assets of overseas Chinese now include:
The Sixth World Chinese Business Conference will be held grandly in September this year in the mother country of Chinese businessmen. It will be such a joy to have thousands of talented Chinese businessmen from home and abroad gather together. "Chinese businessmen join hands in the new century to achieve peaceful development and prosperity." This is not only a grand gathering of global business leaders, but also a grand event for the Chinese nation. But what is the current situation of overseas Chinese businessmen? We will introduce it from 12 aspects.
Topic 1: How many Chinese are there overseas?
The large-scale migration of Chinese people overseas began in the mid-19th century. According to 1999 data, there were at least 34.55 million overseas Chinese.
Although the Chinese people call themselves the Republic of China has a long history, large-scale migration overseas only happened after the mid-19th century. According to incomplete statistics, in the 100 years from the Opium War in 1840 to the eve of the Pacific War in 1941, nearly 10 million Chinese went abroad, traveling to dozens of countries on five continents.
After the Second World War, especially in the past 20 years, with the development of the internationalization of the world economy, due to the uneven regional economic development and the adjustment of immigration policies in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries, foreigners are welcome to The inflow of immigrants has caused a large number of people from developing countries to move to developed countries; following the new trend of global immigration, Chinese populations in developing countries and regions such as mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia are also moving to developed countries. As a result, the Chinese population around the world increased rapidly.
Southeast Asian countries are the areas where the Chinese ethnic group is most concentrated. According to Taiwanese newspaper reports, as of the end of 1999, the total overseas Chinese population outside mainland China and Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao had reached more than 34.55 million, with the largest distribution in Asia, with about 26.788 million people, accounting for 77.63%. Followed by the Americas, there are about 6.013 million people, accounting for 17.43%; Europe has more than 968,000 people, Oceania has more than 655,000 people, and Africa has more than 132,000 people.
Among the Chinese population in Asia, Singapore accounts for about 80%, Malaysia accounts for about 30%, Thailand accounts for about 10%, and the proportion in Indonesia and the Philippines is very small.
In the past 20 years, the Chinese population in the United States, Canada and Australia has increased rapidly. The Chinese-American population is the largest among ethnic minorities in the United States. According to census data, the Chinese-American population in the United States reached 1.6 million in 1990, doubling in the 10 years since 1980; by the end of 1999, the number of Chinese-Americans in the United States reached 3.06 million.
The Chinese population is spread across 168 countries and regions around the world, including Kuwait, Iraq and Bangladesh in Asia, Niagara, Aruba and Uruguay in the Americas, the Netherlands, Poland and Luxembourg in Europe, and the Nauru, the Solomon Islands and Saipan, as well as Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique in Africa, there are Chinese footprints everywhere in the world.
Topic 2: What are "overseas Chinese"?
"Overseas Chinese", "Chinese" and "Chinese" each have different meanings. There are generally two types of titles for overseas Chinese: broad and narrow. Overseas Chinese in a narrow sense refer to the Chinese population outside mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as mentioned above, so there is a catchphrase of "30 million overseas Chinese".
When Western scholars and mainland Chinese people talk about overseas Chinese, they often refer to all overseas compatriots with Chinese ancestry outside mainland China, including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Therefore, there are approximately more than 57 million people. This is a widely discussed statement.
More than 90% of overseas Chinese have adopted the nationality of the country where they are located. Therefore, they have become "Chinese" different from "overseas Chinese" who retain Chinese nationality; therefore, overseas Chinese are generally also referred to as "overseas Chinese" . The children of overseas Chinese born overseas are of Chinese descent, but "Chinese" is often used to refer to all Chinese people.
The older generation of Chinese overseas immigrants, including the older generation, have left their hometowns and drifted with the sea to seek a livelihood overseas and make a difficult living. There are also some mainland businessmen who cross the sea to do business. Many others were Chinese workers who were robbed and sold by the colonists.
The main places of immigration are coastal and riverine areas such as Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu. Some of them, relying on the diligence, wisdom and enterprising spirit of the Chinese people, started their own businesses with arduous efforts, starting from a small business, gradually accumulating capital, and developing Chinese agricultural, industrial and commercial enterprises around the world.
Mr. Guo Fangfeng was born in an ordinary farmer's family in Lianhua Town, Tong'an County, Fujian Province in 1911. Due to his poor family, when he was 14 years old, he went to Southeast Asia alone with a roll of straw mat to make a living in Singapore. He first worked as an apprentice in a hardware store owned by a relative. He worked hard during the day and insisted on going to night school to make up for his homework at night. Later, he was promoted to hardware store manager by his boss, and the store became increasingly prosperous. After having some savings in hand, he invited his three brothers to come to Singapore and opened a small shop named "Feng Leong" together. After half a century of operation and development, it finally became one of the largest Chinese business consortiums in Asia today. one.
After the Second World War, due to temporary adjustments in the host country’s ethnic policies and other political reasons, a part of the Chinese population in Southeast Asian countries migrated to neighboring countries or the United States, Europe, and Australia.
Topic 3: What are world Chinese businessmen?
This is a general term for Chinese business enterprises and their operators with Chinese characteristics. Generally speaking, what is called "overseas Chinese businessmen" in China only refers to Chinese business enterprises and entrepreneurs outside China
As the name suggests, world Chinese businessmen refer to that part of the Chinese group that is engaged in various economic activities around the world. Its core part refers to Chinese business enterprises and their operators with Chinese characteristics. Broadly speaking, the world's Chinese businessmen also generally refer to various institutions, groups and individuals including the Chinese economic and non-economic circles.
The "World Chinese Business Economic Yearbook", which has been published in Beijing since 1995, believes that the world's Chinese businessmen mainly include three aspects, namely, Chinese businessmen in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, and relatively concentrated Chinese businessmen in Southeast Asian countries. Chinese businessmen, Chinese businessmen scattered in North America, Australia and all over the world.
When we talk about "overseas Chinese businessmen", we of course refer to Chinese businessmen outside China, or only to Chinese business enterprises and their operators outside mainland China.
Topic 4: How many assets do overseas Chinese have?
First of all, overseas Chinese capital is not a whole, it is a part of the national capital of each host country. It is estimated that its total economic size is equivalent to that of Taiwan or close to that of South Korea, and its total assets are about US$2.5 trillion. How much capital or assets do overseas Chinese have? This is an issue that people are inevitably interested in when studying and understanding the economic achievements or economic strength of overseas Chinese.
A large number of overseas Chinese live in Southeast Asian countries, and the capital and enterprises of overseas Chinese businessmen are also relatively concentrated in Southeast Asian countries. In mid-August 1995, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade published a 350-page research report on overseas Chinese economic networks, stating that more than 70% of listed companies in Southeast Asia are controlled by the capital of overseas Chinese businessmen. At the same time, Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo, Japan, investigated listed companies in five major Asian countries and found that the vast majority of their assets were owned by Chinese.
In addition to the asset statistics of listed companies, the Chinese economic cells distributed in Asia-Pacific countries and regions are mainly thousands of small and medium-sized commercial enterprises, which provide more than half of the employment opportunities for local society.
In the past 20 years, overseas Chinese capital has also developed considerably in the United States, Canada, Japan and European countries. Chinese capital from Southeast Asian countries, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan has been imported to Australia on a large scale, and it has also played a significant role in the economic growth there.
There are also some studies and reports involving the total amount of global Chinese capital or assets.
After entering the 1990s, according to estimates by the British "Economist" magazine and the Center for Overseas Chinese Issues at Ohio University in the United States, the assets of overseas Chinese in China at that time were between 1.2 trillion and 2 trillion US dollars; according to Taiwan in September 2000 newspaper reported that a study on the situation of overseas Chinese estimated that the total annual income of overseas Chinese at that time was about 2.65 trillion to 309 million US dollars. Its economic aggregate was equivalent to one Taiwan or close to one South Korea, and its total assets could reach 2.5 Trillions of dollars.
Although these estimates are only the result of inference, they can also show to a certain extent that overseas Chinese capital has considerable economic strength.
Some researchers believe that overseas Chinese capital is not a whole and it is impossible to calculate it as a whole. As early as the 1980s, some Japanese scholars and media intentionally or unintentionally exaggerated the total amount of capital or assets owned by overseas Chinese. They put forward this point of view to prove that overseas Chinese, especially in Southeast Asia, are joining forces with China to "dominate" the East Asian economy. These Chinese capital are the foundation and basis of the so-called transnational "Chinese economic circle." Promoting this kind of sensational diagnosis is obviously not conducive to national harmony and economic cooperation and development in the Asia-Pacific region, and deserves everyone's vigilance.
Some researchers have analyzed that overseas Chinese capital consists of two major categories.
The first category is the capital accumulated by the Chinese locally. As mentioned above, the early Chinese who immigrated to various countries did not bring any capital with them. Some of them were able to accumulate the assets they have today after years of hard work, or even the efforts of several generations. Therefore, their capital accumulation process is consistent with the accumulation process of national capital in the country where they live. Especially after the 1950s, the original overseas Chinese in Southeast Asian countries have gradually become citizens of the host countries, and their capital has naturally become part of the national capital of the country.
The second type of Chinese capital originated from before and after World War II. Some domestic entrepreneurs in China, including Chinese entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and Macao, began to make small investments overseas. After the 1960s, overseas investments by Chinese entrepreneurs in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan increased significantly. These Chinese investments are a kind of capital export. In the country where the investment is received, they are naturally regarded as foreign capital rather than the country's national capital. However, the joint ventures or wholly-owned enterprises established overseas are registered in the investment-receiving countries, and their GDP is also included in the GDP of the investment-receiving countries. They are combined in various forms with investments that receive domestic national capital. Therefore, this part of Chinese capital has also become an important part of the local national economy.
Dr. Chun Chun of the Overseas Chinese Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences believes that overseas Chinese are politically loyal to the local society and economically a complementary part of the local mainstream economy with national characteristics, and can use ethnic ties to conduct global business operations. economic Cooperation. Through the analysis of the attributes of Chinese capital, we can more deeply study the positive role played by Chinese citizens in various countries in the economic development and social progress of the country, promote harmonious coexistence and economic cooperation of all ethnic groups in the world, and promote the development of the world economy. **Common development.
Topic 5: What are the characteristics of the World Chinese Network?
The Chinese network composed of ethnic relations can avoid risks and easily seize the market. Its response to market signals and multiple choices are much better than relying solely on international trade and the elimination and transfer of international industries.
The economic and trade network of Chinese businessmen in the contemporary world is mainly developed and expanded based on the Chinese businessmen network in Southeast Asia. The formation of the Chinese businessmen network in Southeast Asia more intensively reflects the basic characteristics of the Chinese businessmen network. It is an ethnic relationship based on Chinese immigrants. With the development of regional and world economies, it is included in the economies of various countries or regions, regional economies and the entire world economy, and spreads to the world.
Modern China’s overseas immigrants were those who emigrated from a weak country for the purpose of making a living and pursuing a peaceful living space. They spontaneously developed gradually relying on family and local relations. They traveled across the ocean, one person bringing another person to another family, and the father led the son to lead the brother, and the children passed on the grandchildren from generation to generation, forming a generational corridor of ethnic immigration.
Immigration in Southeast Asia mostly comes from Guangdong and Fujian provinces as well as Jiangsu and Zhejiang, where there are many dialects. After the immigrants came to the place of settlement, they formed groups based on dialects and regions and formed business gangs. , mainly include Guangdong Gang, Chaozhou Gang, Fujian Gang, Hakka Gang and Hainan Gang, as well as Jin Gang, Hui Gang, Ningbo Gang, etc. And within the gang, kinship and fellow villagers' associations, which are tied by blood and geographical ties, have been established so that they can help each other and work together in times of trouble. The immigrants of each gang are very good at doing business, and the commercial activities of each gang also focus on certain places and certain products. For example, the rice industry was controlled by the Teochew people in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia in the early days. The business and material relationships between Chinese businessmen developed.
As the business of immigrants from various groups became more and more prosperous, clan and villagers' halls became important places for Chinese businessmen to gather. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce gradually broke through the restrictions of kinship and geography, and developed as a business organization for Chinese businessmen. From clan associations with the same surname to hometown associations with different surnames, from dialect group guilds to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese General Association, they have expanded layer by layer, not because of political affiliation, but because of the combination of ethnic relations, forming the gathering point and gathering point of overseas Chinese society. A form of Chinese business network.
After the 1950s, with the economic development in Southeast Asia, the business scale of Chinese business enterprises continued to expand, and the business forms of Chinese business economic and trade networks were diverse. Establish branches, reinvested enterprises, etc. under the parent company; develop associates outside the enterprise and establish joint ventures, associated companies, affiliated companies, associated companies, holding companies, multinational companies, etc. The traditional partnership system of Chinese businessmen developed into a joint-stock system. Especially after the 1970s, the rise of Chinese consortiums, based on the traditional partnership system, mixed shares with each other to form powerful groups and conduct multi-faceted transnational operations, achieving considerable success.
For Chinese businessmen, the process of expanding Chinese capital to the world can effectively avoid the restrictions imposed by a country’s domestic policies on its development during a period, or the impact of regional financial crises, while also effectively avoiding the impact of external financial crises. Network methods can be used to spread risks; and it can occupy the world market in a timely and effective manner.
The global Chinese business network's response to market signals and diversified choices are much superior to relying solely on international trade and international industry elimination and transfer. It can directly participate in the sales of upstream products in new industries and quickly introduce them. technology to carry out efficient investment in production.
Chinese companies seek market-first benefits through the Internet. This is why Chinese companies can still maintain efficient operations even when they cannot compete with American and Japanese companies in terms of scale, capital, technology and even services. s reason. The expansion of the world Chinese merchants economic and trade network around the world conforms to the development trend of internationalization of the world economy.
The Chinese business economic and trade network and its expansion around the world are not mainly reflected through some institutional structure, but are based on ethnic ties and interpersonal relationships, and then through various aspects such as economy, politics and culture. formed by integrating resources. Huashang Network has the characteristics of mesh openness and universal connectivity.
American futurist John Nesbitt once compared the relationship between Chinese business enterprises to the Internet network of today's computers. It is believed that the two species are very similar both in form and characteristics. There is no unified control center in the Internet computer network, and any member who joins the network can gain maximum independence and freedom. The value of the network comes from the expansion of the information market; in the Chinese community, corporate networks can also expand infinitely, and there is no power center. He said: "It is a very invisible, complex and subtle network. Chinese family businesses are actually a network of clans and fellow villagers. Many small networks are intertwined into a large network that covers the world." As one of the forms of Chinese business network, Chinese business associations are increasingly showing the trend of internationalization and economic development. Chinese associations, Chinese schools, and Chinese newspapers have always been called the three pillars of overseas Chinese society. After entering the 1970s, overseas Chinese economic activities developed rapidly, and overseas Chinese associations and organizations also increased rapidly. The current total has grown to about 10,000, including more than 1,000 industrial and commercial associations.
These colorful Chinese associations all over the world serve the overseas Chinese in their respective locations. Through them, they continue to expand the connections between the Chinese ethnic group and people around the world, and make positive contributions to the development of Chinese business economic activities in the world. After entering the 1960s, with the expansion of overseas Chinese distribution and the development and internationalization of the Chinese economy, global Chinese organizations were established one after another. There are now more than 70 of these societies, nearly 70% of which were established after the 1980s. In the past 10 years, various international clan or hometown relatives' gatherings have been held one after another.
The Chaoshan People’s International Chaozhou Tuan Annual Meeting was founded in 1980 and is held every two years around the world. In November 2000, the 16th World Hakka Friendship Conference was held in Longyan City, Fujian Province, the ancestral home of the Hakkas. Representatives from nearly 100 Hakka groups from 18 countries and regions participated, including more than 1,700 overseas representatives. These pro-international gatherings of Chinese ethnic groups have further strengthened the cohesion of Chinese businessmen and played an important role in strengthening mutual contacts and exchanges and developing business relations in various regions of the world, especially in developing economic relations and cultural exchanges between overseas Chinese businessmen and their countries of origin. As an international Chinese business organization, there is the World Chinese Business Trade Conference established in April 1963.
The World Chinese Entrepreneurs Conference, jointly initiated by the Singapore General Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong and the Chinese General Entrepreneurs Association of Thailand, has been held every two years in Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand since 1991. Bangkok, Vancouver, Canada, Melbourne, Australia, and will be held in Nanjing, China soon. The World Chinese Business Conference will push the international network of Chinese businessmen around the world to a new stage of development.