Chinese people in Namibia
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The number of Chinese people in Namibia has grown tremendously since
independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
.


Migration history

As recently as 1998,
China Radio International China Radio International (CRI) is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of China. It is currently headquartered in the Babaoshan area of Beijing's Shijingshan District. It was founded on December 3, 1941, as Radio Peking. It later ...
reported there to be only fifty Chinese people doing business in Namibia, but by 2005 that had grown to more than a thousand. A 2009 U.S. embassy estimate released by
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...
in the
United States diplomatic cables leak The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began on Sunday, 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and d ...
states there are three or four thousand. Opposition politicians such as
Jurie Viljoen Johannes Jurie Viljoen (born 14 May 1942 in Aranos, Hardap Region) is a Namibian politician. Viljoen was a member of the 4th National Assembly of Namibia from 2005 to 2010. From 2005 to 2010, Viljoen was the only representative of the Monitor Act ...
of Monitor Action Group have made accusations that uncontrolled issuance of work permits has led to an influx of as many as 40,000 Chinese labourers, a figure confirmed by Malia Politzer.


Trade

In the 2000s, trade between China and
Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
grew, rising from in $75 million in 2003 to $600 million in 2009. China City, a wholesale and retail centre located in an industrial area of northern Windhoek about 20 minutes from downtown, was opened in 1998 by Li Chengyuan (李澄原), a businessman from
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
; by 2005, merchants there were importing about 1,000
container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
s of goods per year from China. Many Chinese migrants establish small retail businesses particularly in clothing and jewelry. The arrival of Chinese traders has drawn complaints from local traders about competition and concern about quality and safety. However, some Namibians welcomed the addition of Chinese in the retail sector citing the benefit of employment creation and lower costs of goods.
Oshikango Oshikango is a former village in northern Namibia and since 2004 part of the town of Helao Nafidi, although it still maintained its own village council for a number of years. ''Oshikango'' is still the name of the border post with Angola and the ...
, on the border with
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has become a popular destination for Chinese traders hoping to take advantage of expanding cross-border trade. By 2004, the town had 22 Chinese-owned shops, expanding to 75 by 2006. From shoes and textiles, these shops have expanded their product offerings to include furniture, home electronics, motorcycles, artificial flowers, and various other types of goods. Shop owners import their goods through the ports at
Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The ci ...
or
Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, and bring them in by
rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...
for storage in
bonded warehouse A bonded warehouse, or bond, is a building or other secured area in which dutiable goods may be stored, manipulated, or undergo manufacturing operations without payment of duty. It may be managed by the state or by private enterprise. In the ...
s, where they are then sold on to Angolan traders for export to Angola in small quantities, thus avoiding customs duties. In some cases, Chinese businesspeople have set up factories in Oshikango. However these do not produce genuinely competitive goods; their main function is to get work permits for Chinese expatriates who can then work as shop assistants in import/export businesses.


Integration and community

There are a few Chinese restaurants (three in Windhoek) and grocery stores in the country. The restaurants are popular among local Namibians. The embassy's Chinese New Year celebration in 2010 reportedly attracted more than 1,000 Chinese guests, including migrants, international students, and representatives of Chinese multinationals stationed in the country, as well as about 100 local people.


See also

*
Angolans in Namibia There are various communities of Angolans in Namibia. Migration history As Angola and Namibia are neighbours, there has historically been a great deal of cross-border movements between the two countries. There were formerly large numbers of immig ...
*
German Namibians German Namibians (german: Deutschnamibier) are a community of people descended from ethnic German colonists who settled in present-day Namibia. In 1883, the German trader Adolf Lüderitz bought what would become the southern coast of Namibia fr ...


References


Bibliography

* {{Overseas Chinese
Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
Ethnic groups in Namibia China–Namibia relations Namibian people of Asian descent