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比利時華人
Chinezen in België (Dutch)
Diaspora chinoise en Belgique (French)
Chinesische Belgien (German)
Chinatown Antwerp
Total population
12,155 (2017)[1]
Around 30,000 to 40,000[2][3]
Regions with significant populations
Brussels • Antwerp • Leuven
Languages
Dutch • French • German

Cantonese • Mandarin
various other Chinese dialects

Vietnamese • Indonesian to some extent
Religion
Irreligion • Buddhism • Chinese folk religion • Taoism • Confucianism • Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Overseas Chinese

Chinese people in Belgium or Chinese Belgians (simplified Chinese: 比利时华侨; Traditional Chinese: 比利時華僑; pinyin: Bǐlìshí huáqiáo) are Belgian citizens of Chinese ancestry. There is a small ethnic Chinese community in Belgium, compared to neighbouring Netherlands, Germany and France.

History

Single male sailors who wished to reestablish their lives in a foreign country made up the first Chinese living in Belgium. Beginning in the 1950s people from the New Territories of Hong Kong began to settle Europe.[4] They moved due to a lack of jobs in Hong Kong and political developments in Mainland China.[5] Chinese people arrived until the end of the 1960s.[6]

Demographics

Since 1994, Belgium had 3,463 persons with Mainland Chinese citizenship, including 1,788 females and 1,675 males; and 489 persons with Republic of China (Taiwan) citizenship, including (278 females and 115 males).[7] However, as of 1998 most Chinese in Belgium originated in Hong Kong. Prior to 1997 were counted as "British" when they arrived, and by 1998 many had naturalized as Belgian citizens. Therefore, they were not counted as ethnic Chinese people living in Belgium. Pang Ching Lin (彭靜蓮, Pinyin: Péng Jìnglián), author of "Invisible Visibility: Intergenerational Transfer of Identity and Social Position of Chinese Women in Belgium," stated that therefore there is a lack of records specifically tracking Chinese people, and therefore there is an element of invisibility.[6]

In 2008, De Morgen reported that the total of Han Chinese living in Belgium are estimated to be around 30.000.[2]

In 2017, there are 12.155 Chinese foreigners in Belgium.[8] That number is only counted for those who are from the People's Republic of China and aren't counted to those who are naturalized. Ethnic Chinese people from other countries such as Hongkongers, Taiwanese and Chinese Singaporeans are not counted as well.

As of 2020, Vedia estimates the number of ethnic Chinese in Belgium at around 40.000.[3]

Institutions

There are multiple Chinese organisations in Belgium, but they do not regularly cooperate with one another. They sometimes cooperate during some political events supported by the Mainland Chinese government and during the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Chinese New Year.[9]

Notable individuals

Lu Zhengxiang and Berthe Bovy

Further information: Category:Belgian people of Chinese descent

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Bevolking naar nationaliteit en geslacht per gemeente". statbel.be.
  2. ^ a b "Chinezen in België zamelen 350.000 euro in". De Morgen. 20 May 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Nouvel an chinois fêté malgré tout à Verviers".
  4. ^ Pang, p. 438.
  5. ^ Pang, p. 439.
  6. ^ a b Pang, p. 434.
  7. ^ Pang, p. 436.
  8. ^ "Bevolking naar nationaliteit en geslacht per gemeente" op statbel.be
  9. ^ Liu Huang, p. 219.
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