Numbers of Chinese immigrants to the UK has been rising. Deon Emyr looks at the factors driving this

The United Kingdom has a vast flow of migrants coming in from different countries. In May 2015, The Telegraph published an article looking at the different trends of British migrants. Estimates from International Passenger survey showed that in 2013, China is the country of origin with the most number of migrants, with 46,000 coming into Britain. Even though Chinese migration has been an issue in Europe, and has been given a great deal of attention compared to other immigrants, both in terms of media and policy, Chinese migrants are relatively low.

Recent trends show that these migrants come from a much wider range of source regions in China than in the past when most Chinese migrants came from Hong Kong. The number of Chinese migrating to Europe, notably Southern and Central Europe, has been rapidly increasing. There is also a significant increase in the varying forms of attempts at illegal entry, which has been an ongoing issue with most European countries.

What drives them to the United Kingdom? There are a lot of factors, really. According to the Office for National Statistics around three-quarters of people arriving in the United Kingdom are people migrating to study or work. In 2014, around 40,000 Chinese migrants came to the United Kingdom, higher than any other country, in part to study. There are 47,740 Chinese students in the UK higher education, according to a UK Higher Education Statistics Agency report. These students are obviously young temporary migrants. The new Chinese migrants or those people who arrived in the last 10 years, who were born in the Chinese mainland rather than in Fujian or Hong Kong, have already outnumbered the settled migrants.

In an article on this blog, a significant number of Chinese are said to be located in areas of London where the wealthy live. This is not surprising as new border control systems obviously give more favour to wealthy migrants. The border control has altered from a sharp focus on permanent migration for settlement to just temporary migration from 2008 until its full implementation in 2011.

Also, migrants have shifted from unskilled to highly skilled migrants where they meet the criteria for what the UK Border Agency calls ‘Tier-one’ visas issued to people with ‘exceptional’ talent. They require these migrants to be ‘internationally recognised as world leaders or those having potential world-leading talent’. They have also adopted a points-based system along with new rules which definitely favour the wealthy, elite, Chinese migrants.

On the other hand, the Tier-two visa simply makes it easier for transfer of employees who belong in multinational companies aiming to deploy staff in their UK operations. Thus, the elite status is now embedded in these changes, along with the rapid increase of the middle class in China which further explains the evolution of Chinese migrants in the UK. Due to the recent globalization and the increasing desire of multinational companies to do business in other countries particularly in China, they are now hiring these migrants for white collar positions and companies such as Chinese Jobs UK (www.chinesejobs.uk) help and assist Chinese migrants who come to the UK to look for work.

Chinese Britain is highly polarised in such a way that those Chinese migrants who do not qualify under the new system are left in the hands of ruthless traffickers, exploiters and profiteers. They are subjected to unsafe methods of travelling, and sometimes even left for dead at the back of trucks. By preventing legal passage for those migrants who are less well-off, the new border controls only result to a further increase in illegal migration.

The changing part of China on the planet is obviously what has created another sort of Chinese transient to Britain and somewhere else as new courses open up crosswise over China and in Chinese lives. With conceivably the greatest developing working class on the planet, recently well off Chinese look for abroad instruction for their youngsters and new courses for themselves as voyagers and as financial specialists.

In this way Chinese Britain has other noteworthy surfaces as well, past the groups of vagrants and their since quite a while ago settled co-ethnics. UK organizations are quick to get to what are possibly inconceivable markets for extravagance products. Visits to Beijing by Mayor Boris Johnson and the Prime Minister endorse these moves and empower Chinese interest in UK framework and different activities. In view of these improvements the time has come to upgrade our comprehension of Chinese movement and to make note of the new floods of transients that now form Chinese Britain.

China’s recent big changes and its impact to the world has helped a lot in producing a new kind of Chinese migrants to Britain and in other countries as new paths develop across China as well as in the lives of its citizens. They have a huge potential as the largest emerging middle class on the planet, and they are now seeking overseas education for their youth as well as new paths as investors and tourists.

With this growing trend, the UK itself is keen to invest in this huge potential with lots of businesses focusing on the huge potential of fashion and luxury goods market and even UK politicians encouraging China to invest in their infrastructure and other big projects. It is only appropriate for us to refresh our perception Chinese migration and to seriously take account the latest migrants in Chinese Britain.

Deon Emyr is a professional writer at ChineseJobsUK specialising in commentary on the Chinese population in the UK