Engine of growth

Today, China has one of the largest populations living abroad. There were about 10 million Chinese living overseas in 2020, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Overseas citizens are a key part of its growth story. Media reports show that their investments accounted for about two-thirds of the country's foreign investment in its early development years.

The history of Chinese migration stretches back centuries. Records at the Overseas Chinese Museum show that a wave of Chinese emigrated abroad to seek refuge between the 1890s and 1920s amid frequent wars and turbulence.

Media reports also note that overseas Chinese were among the first to invest in China in the 1980s. For decades, the diaspora — even after acquiring foreign citizenship — reportedly accounted for as much as 70 percent of foreign direct investment.

The southern or eastern coasts include Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan provinces, which are the ancestral homes of most Chinese Singaporeans. While some moved directly to Singapore, others traveled to a third Southeast Asian country first, such as Malaysia and Vietnam.

History professor Zhuang Guotu at Xiamen University said that by the early 1940s, there were about 8.5 million Chinese worldwide — with more than 90 percent in Southeast Asia.

According to the latest data compiled by The Straits Times in February, in Indonesia, over 2.83 million residents identify themselves as ethnic Chinese. In Thailand, between 7.1 and 7.5 million people identify as ethnic Chinese, while an additional 9.3 to 10 million claim partial Chinese ancestry. Malaysia is home to approximately 7.6 million ethnic Chinese, and Singapore has around 2.76 million. Meanwhile, Vietnam reports about 749,466 ethnic Chinese residents. These figures provide an overview of the ethnic Chinese population in Southeast Asia.

New immigrants

While older Singaporeans look back and reflect on their roots in China, new immigrants are planting theirs in Singapore as part of a global migration surge.

SFCCA's Phua said that unlike earlier groups of overseas Chinese who became Singaporeans, new immigrants from China are "much wealthier, with a number having moved to Singapore due to investment migration".

Zhuang said that new migrants, who arrived in Singapore after China opened up, differed in their views on China from earlier groups.

Having seen or experienced the economic growth firsthand, they formed their own views of China's system, he noted.

This group continues to maintain strong ties with their Chinese relatives back home, with some migrants holding substantial business in China as well.

"They see themselves more as global Chinese, with strong connections to China, rather than as 'Straits Chinese'," Zhuang said. Straits Chinese are defined as the descendants of early Chinese immigrants to Southeast Asia who blended Chinese traditions with Malay and British cultures.

"They view transnational mobility — and even returning to China — as a normal way of life and career development, representing a departure from the traditional immigrant mindset of (returning to their roots)," he added.

THE STRAITS TIMES, SINGAPORE