The Economic-Cultural Patterns of Ethnic Minorities Migrants in the Cities of China

Authors

Jijiao ZHANG, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, ChinaFollow

Abstract

Growing numbers of ethnic migrants from remote minority areas of China have contributed to the ethnic diversity of major cities. Whether these new ethnic migrants will live in fragmented communities in the urban areas and what would happen to their economy and culture are questions that raise concern. Both will find spatial expressions on the urban landscape in the form of economic-cultural patterns (ECPs) associated with each ethnic migrant community. It is inevitable that these patterns will represent a transformation of those in their native settlements. I order to understand the nature of this transformation, concepts of dichotomy in the form of “tradition-modern”, “rural-urban”, or “agriculture-industry” to categorize ECPs are no longer valid. In this paper, I address these issues through a comparative analysis of several minority groups, based on a survey in the cities of Qingdao, Kunming, Shenzhen, and Huhhot. Overall, ECPs have changed from those of the rural to more urban-market types. But there are also significant variations. In Qingdao, the Korean Chinese ECP might be classified as “dependent-transplantation”; in Huhhot, the Mongolian ECP as “innovative-transplantation”; in Kunming, the Muslim Hui ECP as “semi-innovative and semi-integrative”; and in Shenzhen and Kunming, other minority migrants’ ECPs as “integrative”. These different patterns suggest very different needs for, and approaches to, public policy on migration and on migrant adaptation to urban life.

Recommended Citation

ZHANG, Jijiao (2014) "The Economic-Cultural Patterns of Ethnic Minorities Migrants in the Cities of China," Malaysian Journal of Chinese Studies: Vol. 3: No. 2, Article 4.
Available at: https://mjcs.newera.edu.my/journal/vol3/iss2/4