Chinese are third biggest migrant group in Australia
The Chinese are the third biggest migrant group in Australia, behind the British and those from New Zealand. But the pattern of new settlement has changed in past decades. These days, Australia is actively recruiting wealthier business migrants from China, as well as tens of thousands of students.
The latest estimate suggests there are 1.2 million people of Chinese heritage in Australia, out of an overall population of 24 million. James Laurenceson from the University of Technology Sydney says the patterns of migration from China have changed in recent decades.
Laurenceson said that earlier on, it was mainly a humanitarian program where lots of Chinese immigrants coming under a refugee program, for example, in the late 1980s. Now it is firmly targeted towards skilled migrants and business migrants. So for example, in Australia, there is a significant investment visa program, which is to attract overseas high-net worth individuals. 90% of the applicants coming into Australia through that program are from China.
However, Australia does have a racist underbelly and a survey last year found that more than a third of Chinese immigrants in Australia say they had faced discrimination. As well as prejudice, many older migrants from China had to overcome language problems and build new lives from scratch.
Source: voanews.com