Chinese Migration to Italy: Features and Issues

This essay examines the Chinese experience of migration to Italy. Archival material has been integrated with oral history field work conducted in Bologna and the Romagna. We have identified three distinct waves of Chinese migration to Italy. The first wave occurred in the very early stage of Sino-Italian relations (1850–1915), when only four categories of people moved to Italy from China: the students and priests studying and teaching at the Chinese college in Naples, the diplomats and their families based in Rome, a few sailors and the first street vendors. The sporadic presence of Chinese citizens in Italy was matched by the low number of Italians in China mainly living in the territorial concessions of Tianjin. During the second wave of Chinese immigration (1930–1970), a small but cohesive community started to develop both in Milan and Bologna. The most recent wave of Chinese immigration started in the 1990s. Involving Chinese born and educated under the flag of the People’s Republic, this wave bears little or no resemblance to the preceding one. Today, there are widely dispersed ethnic Chinese communities in Italy, all independent from each other but all equally well-integrated into their respective local economies. All things considered, the base common denominator between the three unique waves of Chinese immigrants to Italy is a strong entrepreneurial attitude together with a sense of close community kinship. In each of the three eras, the Chinese family circle has proved decisive in the establishment of small businesses and their successful integration into the Italian economy.