Chinese in Hungary

Pap Fruzsina2015.

University of Miskolc

Basic Facts/Statistics

• Estimately 20,000 Chinese in Hungary

• 2007: 6,800

• Fewer than 100 got the Hungarian citizenship

• Colonization started in 1989 (collapse of Communist system)

• Aim: opening stores (clothes, restaurants), getting a job as a migrant worker

• Live mainly in Budapest, can be found in the whole country

• Came from Beijing, Zhejiang, Fujian.

• 1990: 11,621

• 1991: 27,330

• 1992: 10,128 (visa requirements restored)

Budapest and PestOther cities

Regional distribution

Work

• Most of the stores are family enterprises (home: production of goods, abroad: selling)

• 1992: 1400 registered company

• 2002: 10,000 Chinese company in Hungary

• Today: enterprises are decreasing, but capital investment is increasing (multinational companies)

Occupational distribution

- Trading, catering- Simple host/catering

- Technial, scientific- Other

Discrimination

• General discrimination

• Not racism, but an antipathy

• In the beginning they were welcomed by the society experts say it is due to the media (´flood of refugees´) and politicians (misbelief)

• They can’t protect themselves no real labor organisation, help only from the embassy

• Annoying but they can live with it Hungary is a place where they can earn money, making a living!

Language Barriers

• It is a bigger problem: only some of them speaks Hungarian, not many speaks English (and not many Hungarian speaks English)

• It is not important to learn the language or to get Hungarian citizenship Hungary is a ´stop´, not sure whether it is the ´final station/stop´

• Another problem: cultural differences not easy to get used to

After settling down

• No Chinatown as in the U.S. no compulsory actions as overseas

• There are many typical districts where many of them live

• 2004: Magyar – Kínai Két Tanítási Nyelvű Általános Iskola

• 2008: survey Hungarians are the most negative towards immigrants misbelief that ´Chinese are everywhere´

Learning the languageConfucius Institutes in Hungary

Sources

• http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magyarorsz%C3%A1gi_k%C3%ADnaiak

• http://index.hu/kultur/eletmod/mancs706/

• http://kitekinto.hu/eia/2011/03/12/egy_kulonleges_migracios_strategia_a_kinaiak_magyarorszagon/2/#.VU-1jCHtmko

Thank you for your attention!谢谢大家 !