Laotian Chinese

The Laotian Chinese are an overseas Chinese community who live in Laos. At present, they constitute an estimated 2% of the population. The Laotian Chinese community have a disproportionately large presence in the Laotian business sector and dominate the Laotian economy today.[3][4]

Laotian Chinese
Total population
185,000
1 to 2 percent of the Laotian population[1]
Regions with significant populations
Vientiane • Phonsavan • Luang Prabang • Pakse
Languages
Lao • Teochew • Cantonese • Southwestern Mandarin[2]
Religion
Theravada Buddhism • Mahayana Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Overseas Chinese

Identity

Many modern Laotian Chinese have reinvented themselves to assert a more traditional Chinese identity to more easily create economic links to conduct business between Laos and Mainland China. Though assimilation into Laotian society is highly favored, the approbation of those “marks” of Chinese cultural membership which are commonly considered to be the most important while concurrently maintaining allegiance to Laos.[5]

Language

Many Laotian Chinese families have their children learn Chinese to reaffirm their Chinese identity as Mandarin has been increasingly the primary language of business for Overseas Chinese business communities. The rise of China's global economic prominence has prompted many Laotian Chinese business families to see Mandarin as a beneficial asset to partake economic links to conduct business between Laos and Mainland China.[6]

Migration history

Most Laotian Chinese are descendants of older generations who moved down from the Southern China provinces from the 19th century and present. Most have ancestry from the provinces of: Yunnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan and Guizhou. Laotian Chinese are mostly Teochew and Cantonese, but some also speak Southwestern Mandarin from the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan. Today in Laos, many ethnic Chinese migrants have decided to reside in Laos, making the population rise by a couple of thousands. Many ethnic Chinese were also involved in constructing the 2009 Southeast Asian Games venues held in Vientiane. During the 1970s and 1980s, after the Communist Pathet Lao came into power, some Laotian Chinese fled to Thailand and other countries. The U.S. also has a significant Laotian Chinese population. Many still practice certain Chinese traditions and customs as their ancestors did.[7] Most of the ethnic Chinese in Laos fled the country during the Communist takeover in 1975.[8]

Trade and industry
Main articles: Bamboo network and Economy of Laos

Like much of Southeast Asia, ethnic Chinese dominate Laotian commerce at every level of society.[9][10] Entrepreneurial savvy Chinese literally taken over the country's entire economy.[11] Laotian Chinese wield tremendous economic clout over their indigenous Laotian majority counterparts and play a critical role in maintaining the country's economic vitality and prosperity.[12] In Laos, which has almost no indigenous commercial culture in the private sector, the 1 to 2 percent Chinese minority more or less comprise 100 percent of the country's entire business community while profiting eagerly from every grudging inch of globalization induced market opening.[13] Many Laotian Chinese play a leading role in the Laotian economy with Laotian Chinese entrepreneurs specializing in industries such as shipping, textiles, mining, casinos, bars, nightclubs, banking, construction, airlines, real estate, tobacco manufacturing, clothing factories, health clubs, catering, hotels, cement mixing, restaurants, vehicles, electrical appliances, machinery, retail and repair shops, restaurants, and hotels.[14][15][16][17][18] Vientiane is home to at least 2500 Chinese entrepreneurs who own a disproportionate percentage of restaurants, cinemas, hotels, repair shops, and jewellery shops across the city.[19][20] In Luang Namtha in northern Laos, recent migrants dominate the local markets and have established large agricultural estates.[21]

The present situation in Laos has led to a resurgence of the Laotian Chinese business community in the midst of a rise in incoming foreign investment and increasing trade of every sort from Mainland China as well as Overseas Chinese investors in the neighboring Southeast Asian countries. In order for the community to secure and protect their economic interests, many Laotian Chinese conduct business via the Association of Chinese, who are responsible for acclimating immigrant Chinese or fellow Sino-Laotian entrepreneurs and investors through the maze of administrative steps needed to become permanent residents and obtain the right to exercise private business activity and funnel their capital through private bamboo networks for new startup business ventures.[22]

Laos’s lack of an indigenous Laotian commercial culture in the private sector that is dominated entirely by Laotian Chinese themselves has encouraged a plethora of Mainland Chinese foreign investment capital into the country. The modern Laotian business sector is highly dependent on ethnic Chinese companies who control virtually the country's entire economy. An influx of capital from Mainland China have led to new construction projects in northern Laos with hydraulic infrastructures, prospecting, high-yield plantations, and textile factories.[23] Many newer Chinese immigrants relate more to the Laotian Chinese community itself and traditionally maintain only secondary links with China. These first generation immigrants tend to fully identify themselves as Chinese in order to provide market openings between Laos and China.[24]

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See also
  • People's Republic of China – Laos relations

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-01-04. Retrieved 2016-09-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. A. Doak Barnett (1960). Communist China and Asia. Published for the Council on Foreign Relations. pp. 175.
  3. Chua, Amy (2003). World On Fire. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. pp. 37. ISBN 978-0385721868.
  4. "The Chinese in Laos Rebirth of the Laotian Chinese Community as peace returns to Indochina". French Centre for Research on Contemporary China.
  5. "The Chinese in Laos Rebirth of the Laotian Chinese Community as peace returns to Indochina". French Centre for Research on Contemporary China.
  6. "The Chinese in Laos Rebirth of the Laotian Chinese Community as peace returns to Indochina". French Centre for Research on Contemporary China.
  7. Joel Martin Halpern (1961). The Role of the Chinese in Lao Society. Rand Corp. p. 4.
  8. Frank-Jürgen Richter. Business Networks in Asia: Promises, Doubts, and Perspectives. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  9. Chua, Amy (2003). World On Fire. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. pp. 37. ISBN 978-0385721868.
  10. Tipton, Frank B. (2008). Asian Firms: History, Institutions and Management. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 277. ISBN 978-1847205148.
  11. Chua, Amy (2003). World On Fire. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. pp. 37. ISBN 978-0385721868.
  12. Chua, Amy (2003). World On Fire. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. pp. 37. ISBN 978-0385721868.
  13. Chua, Amy (2003). World On Fire. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. pp. 37. ISBN 978-0385721868.
  14. Chua, Amy L. (January 1, 1998). "Markets, Democracy, and Ethnicity: Toward A New Paradigm For Law and Development". The Yale Law Journal. 108: 21–22.
  15. Frank-Jürgen Richter. "Business Networks in Asia: Promises, Doubts, and Perspectives". Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  16. "The Chinese in Laos Rebirth of the Laotian Chinese Community as peace returns to Indochina". French Centre for Research on Contemporary China.
  17. Strangio, Sebastian. "The Rise, Fall and Possible Renewal of a Town in Laos on China's Border". The New York Times.
  18. Richter, Frank (1999). Business Networks in Asia: Promises, Doubts, and Perspectives. Praeger (published May 30, 1999). pp. 198–199. ISBN 978-1567203028.
  19. Leo-paul, Dana (2002). When Economies Change Paths: Models of Transition in China, the Central Asian Republics, Myanmar And the Nations of Former Indochine Francaise. World Scientific Publishing. p. 216. ISBN 978-9810249496.
  20. Leo Paul, Dana (2007). Asian Models Of Entrepreneurship -- From The Indian Union And The Kingdom Of Nepal To The Japanese Archipelago: Context, Policy And Practice. World Scientific Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 978-9812568786.
  21. Kurlantzick, Joshua (2008). Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power Is Transforming the World. A New Republic Book. Yale University Press (published May 27, 2008). p. 105. ISBN 978-0300136289.
  22. "The Chinese in Laos Rebirth of the Laotian Chinese Community as peace returns to Indochina". French Centre for Research on Contemporary China.
  23. "Overseas Chinese resident in Laos eyes new role as "overseas bridge". Xinhua. May 18, 2017.
  24. "The Chinese in Laos Rebirth of the Laotian Chinese Community as peace returns to Indochina". French Centre for Research on Contemporary China.
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