Why Are Chinese People All Over the World?

China has a very long history of immigration, dating back hundreds of years. A large quantity of Chinese moved to Southeast Asia first for trade and business. However, after the 1850s, poverty, war, population pressure, and the demand for labor in colonial Southeast Asia pushed millions of Chinese people to leave their hometowns and seek better opportunities abroad.

The Chinese sent abroad were mainly miners, vendors, and plantation laborers. And they did not go alone — they were introduced by their relatives, hometown associations, clans, guilds, and merchant networks. These people mainly came from Fujian and Guangdong, which is why there are so many Fujian associations, Guangdong associations, and Teochew merchant groups overseas.

So Chinese immigrants appearing everywhere is not overnight — it already has a long history.

Why Do Chinese People Want to Immigrate?

Then what is the reason that causes Chinese people to want to immigrate to another country?

Last September, I was traveling in Japan. I met a Chinese worker at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Shibuya, and we had a casual conversation about this topic. Gangzi had been working and living in Japan for one year. He told me his journey of coming to Japan, and why so many Chinese are now obsessed with going abroad. He said he just came there to study at a language school and immerse himself in Japanese culture, because before coming to Japan, he had already been an anime fan.

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But because he was in Japan, he had the chance to talk with other Chinese people living there, and he learned from these people. So I am going to share with you what he said.

“Run Out of China”

In China, there is a slang term called “润出去” (rùn chūqù), which is very popular in domestic China. It literally means “run out of China.” Since COVID, the Chinese economy collapsed and it became more difficult for people to find jobs. More and more young people started losing their jobs. The job market in China is so competitive, so some people decided to go to Japan to seek greater opportunities.

Gangzi said the main group that “runs” to Japan are the middle class and upper class in China. There are a couple of reasons.

For Better Education

Middle class and upper class people immigrate to Australia, Japan, America usually because they want their kids to have a better education. Rich people know they can give their kids everything except knowledge. They know exactly that their kids have to learn the knowledge themselves. What they can do is provide them with higher education. Developed countries usually have better education systems for their kids.

For Foreign Passports and Identity

In 2026, the Singapore passport is visa-free for almost 192 countries. Let’s look at the Chinese passport — they only have around 90 countries offering visa-free access, which is a very weak passport. For businessmen who seek opportunities around the world, a powerful passport means they don’t have to spend time applying for visas — they can just go wherever they want, either for travel or business.

With foreign identity, you can buy property in that country. They can allocate their assets in different countries. Putting all money in China is not stable — you never know what will happen next.

For Freedom of Speech

In China, you are not allowed to judge the government. You are not allowed to criticize them in public, or you are going to be in big trouble. In other countries like the US and Japan, you have more freedom to say what you want. So some people do immigrate to another country for this reason.

The Influence of Social Media

Two years ago, in 2023, I was in high school. Chinese social media suddenly popped up with a lot of videos about working abroad. These videos got huge views, because at that time many people lost their jobs, and the working environment forced them to want to work abroad for a better life.

And I am one of them. I was fascinated by life abroad, especially developed countries like the US, Australia, America. The content creators usually filmed videos in the supermarket showing how much their hourly salary could buy in the supermarket. I saw them use one hour’s salary as a restaurant worker in the US to buy so many things — eggs, milk, pork, beef. I almost wanted to go there and work.

But as I researched deeper, I found it’s not just about that. As a normal person, you can’t only go to the supermarket every day to buy food. You have to socialize. You have to fill up your car’s tank. You have to send someone to fix your furniture. You have to eat at restaurants. These are all very expensive — but compared to China, these costs are all very cheap. So I gave up on living abroad, instead choosing to travel there just to experience the culture.

So this story tells us that many people want to move abroad and immigrate abroad. Social media may have an influence on us too.

More and more people are sharing how to immigrate abroad through the internet right now.

Gangzi had the same experience as me. Before he came to Japan to study, he also watched tons of videos about how good Japan is. But when he came here, he found it’s not all fantasy — it still has upsides and downsides.

Final Thoughts

So as you travel around the world, you see Chinese communities everywhere, Chinatowns everywhere. It is not overnight — there is a history of Chinese immigration. Since hundreds of years ago, Chinese laborers were sent all around the world. Maybe people seek more and more working opportunities, or better education.

I hope after reading this article, it answers your confusion