Chinese diaspora in France
The Chinese diaspora in France includes people of Chinese origin who were born in or immigrated to France. Chinese constituted the second largest Asian group in France, with a population of roughly 600,000 as of 2024. The country is home to Europe's largest Overseas Chinese population. Uniquely among most overseas Chinese communities, a significant portion of ethnic Chinese immigrants and their descendants in France originate from Southeast Asia instead of China, namely the former colonies of French Indochina which consist of modern-day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
History
17th century
The first record of a Chinese man in France is Shen Fo-tsung in 1684, and soon after Arcade Huang, also known as Huang Jialüe. He was brought back by Jesuit missionaries to the Versailles court of Louis XIV, the Sun King in the late 17th century, and oversaw a collection of manuscripts sent as a gift from the Kangxi Emperor of Qing China.Belle Époque
The opening of the Chinese port at Wenzhou in 1876 soon saw a small number of merchants from the region arriving in Paris, being the first wave of Chinese settlement in France. The 1911 census counted 283 Chinese in France. This tiny Chinese population during the Belle Époque period mainly consisted of students, journalists, intellectuals, as well as merchants. Many students of Chinese ethnicity in France were not from China but rather Vietnam, which was a French colony with a significant Chinese population.In 1902, Li Shizeng and Zhang Jingjiang arrived in Paris as "embassy students" accompanying Ambassador to France Sun Baoqi. Li soon left this official position to study biology at in Montargis, a town 120 kilometres south of Paris. He founded the first factory which manufactured beancurd for the French market. Zhang established a Paris gallery which sold Chinese art. Together with their friend Wu Zhihui, they formed the French branch of the Chinese anarchist movement which drew inspiration from French anarchists. In 1909, the three arranged for 140 students to come from China to work in the beancurd factory in order to support their study of French language and culture. Over the next two decades, Li, Zhang, and Wu established a number of institutions of Sino-French friendship such as the Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement. Also arriving in Paris at this time was the art-dealer C.T. Loo, who married a French woman and maintained a business there until the 1950s.
World War I
Between 1915 and 1916, with the World War I conflict at its height between the allies and the Central Powers of Germany and Austro-Hungary, the British recruited more than 100,000 Chinese and their French allies some 40,000, and shipped them to the French western front as desperately needed labour to relieve an acute manpower shortage. They cleared mines, repaired roads and unloaded ships, with their contribution going unrecognized for decades. Mainly aged between 20 and 35 and hailing from the northern Chinese provinces of Hebei, Jiangsu and particularly Shandong, as well as Wenzhou, they served as labour in the rear echelons or helped build munitions depots, repair railways and roads, and unloaded ships at Allied ports. Some worked in armaments factories, others in naval shipyards, for a pittance of three to five francs a day. At the time they were seen just as cheap labour, not even allowed out of camp to fraternise locally, dismissed as mere coolies. When the war ended some were used for mine clearance, or to recover the bodies of soldiers and fill in miles of trenches.After the Armistice, the Chinese, each identified only by an impersonal reference number, were shipped home. Only about 2,000 to 3,000 stayed on, forming the nucleus of the later Chinese community in Paris. Most who survived returned to China in 1918. However, some were trapped in France by the 30 June 1920 collapse of the Banque industrielle de Chine. An estimated ten thousand died in the war effort, victims of either shelling, landmines, poor treatment or the worldwide Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. Their remains still lie in 30 French graveyards, the largest at Noyelles-sur-Mer on the Somme, where some of the fiercest battles occurred. The cemetery contains 842 gravestones each engraved with Chinese characters, guarded by two stone lions, gifts from China.
After decades of neglect, the Chinese World War I labourers were ceremoniously recognized for their effort. An annual ceremony of tribute has taken place since 2002 at the cemetery at Noyelles-sur-Mer each April to coincide with the Chinese Festival of Qingming, attended by representatives of the French veterans' associations, the Chinese ambassador to France and members of Chinese associations in France. A 2004 documentary film, "Journey With no Return,", was shown on French television.
Post World War I
Of the 2,000 to 3,000 Chinese who remained in France after World War I, most became factory workers and settled around the Île-de-France region, especially in Boulogne-Billancourt. The presence of the larger and more established Vietnamese community in France had an effect in helping the Chinese settle down and jointly form the first significant Asian presence in France. The first rooted Chinese community in Paris was based first around the Gare de Lyon in the east of the capital, then near the Arts et Métiers metro station in the 3rd arrondissement.Since 1919, the number of Chinese in France was slightly bolstered by an influx of students from both French Indochina and China,, who would play a crucial leadership role in organising community institutions for the Chinese there.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Chinese from Wenzhou settled in Paris. They worked as leatherworkers near the Jewish neighborhood in the 3rd arrondissement and setting up sundries and mini-markets. Taking over the wholesale trade lost by the Jews during the German occupation of France during World War II, the Chinese community continues to exist today.
Recent immigration
Vietnamese Chinese
After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, ethnic Chinese from Vietnam were heavily persecuted by the new communist government and faced expulsion from the newly reunified country. This led to a wave of emigration to France, as Vietnamese Chinese joined other ethnic Vietnamese refugees from South Vietnam and largely resettled in Paris and the surrounding Île-de-France region. Ethnic Chinese from Laos and Cambodia, the other two former French Indochina colonies, also arrived in France after this period of conflict for similar reasons.During the period, the high-rise neighbourhood in the southeast of Paris' 13th arrondissement, where the city's Quartier Asiatique is located, saw significant population growth. The area contains many Chinese inhabitants predominantly living in high-rise apartments, in addition to large Vietnamese and Laotian communities. Similar to the ethnic Vietnamese population, Chinese refugees from Vietnam who migrated to France and French-speaking regions of Canada on average had a higher level of affluence and are better integrated into the host nation than their peers who migrated to North America or Australia.
Other new immigrants
Since the 1980s, immigration has increased steadily, with the main source countries being mainland China, notably from Wenzhou, in addition to the countries of former French Indochina. More recently, Chinese immigration to France has shifted to migrants from the northeast of the mainland. In Paris, settlement is spread across both urban and suburban districts, notably the 13th arrondissement, and the Templetowns of Lognes, Torcy, Noisy-le-Grand. Lyon and Marseille also have significant Chinese communities.Immigration from China to France slowed considerably in the 2010s and the 2020s, with growth falling below that of all other immigrants. The number of Chinese nationals holding a first residence permit halved between 2013 and 2021, leading China to fall from 3rd to 8th place in the ranking of countries whose nationals are admitted for residence.
Cultural profile
The Chinese community in France can be categorized into three different groups based on migrant history and varieties of Chinese spoken.Wenzhounese
Ethnic Chinese with origins from Wenzhou and the surrounding southern Zhejiang province form the largest and most established Chinese community in France, with a population of about 350,000 as of 2010. The earliest Chinese migrants to France arrived in the late 19th century and consisted of Wenzhounese merchants who produced Chinese ceramics. During World War I, the vast majority of the 100,000 Chinese laborers recruited to work in France originated from the Wenzhou area, with a small number remaining in France after the conflict ended. During the 1970s and 1980s, a large wave of Chinese from Wenzhou arrived in France, with a number brought over by family members already present in France.Chinese of French Indochina
Following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, a large number of ethnic Chinese from the former French colonies in Southeast Asia emigrated to France to escape the communist takeover of their countries and persecution by the new governments. The population of this community was about 150,000 as of 2010. Their origins from former French colonies resulted in a strong background of French language and culture upon their arrival and their level of assimilation into French society has been largely quick and successful, being the most integrated Chinese community in France. As in their former countries, ethnic Chinese from Indochina are heavily involved in commerce, especially among the generation of immigrants, and average income levels are above the national median.Teochew is the most frequently spoken Chinese variety among this community, with Cantonese also prevalent and used as a common commercial and community language due to its status as a historical lingua franca among Chinese in Indochina. Additionally, knowledge of Vietnamese is common among the generation of refugees, who largely originated from the former South Vietnam, while Lao and Khmer are conversant among the smaller number of refugees originating from Laos and Cambodia respectively.