China becomes top destination for Russian migrants

[beijingwalker]

China becomes top destination for Russian migratsn
August 10, 2013 Polina Rusyaeva, Kommersant

According to Russian government statistics, most of the Russians emigrating from their home country were heading for Europe and North America in recent years. In 2010, these destinations accounted for 81 per cent of emigration from Russia; in 2011 the figure fell to 78 per cent. Last year, however, it plunged to 47 per cent, signalling a radical shift in migration patterns. The proportion of official Russian migrants heading for Asia rocketed from 19 per cent to 46 per cent. Emigration to Africa also rose from 1.4 per cent in 2011 to 5.6 per cent in 2012.

China claimed the top spot last year in the ranking of the most popular destinations for Russian migrants, accounting for 18 per cent of the total. According to government statistics, the number of official Russian migrants to China rose from 507 in 2011 to 4,400 in 2012, a record high since 1997, the earliest year for which figures are available. Germany, which had been the most popular destination for many years, is now second. Compared to 10 years ago, the number of Russians moving to China has risen by a factor of 50.

Heading for greener pastures

For Nikolay Koshel, moving to China was a no-brainer. In the mid-2000 the entrepreneur from Krasnodar made a living by selling clothes at one of the local markets and importing various goods from China. Now he lives in Guangzhou, southern China. He has brought his whole family with him; they rent a large 2,600 sq. ft. apartment with an attached plot of land for 2,500 dollars a month. His local company, Cimpex, which offers intermediary and logistics services to Russian importers of Chinese products, did 6.5 million dollars worth of business last year.

The Russian migrants to China we have spoken to say that integrating into the local community in China is not always a swift or easy process. The same is equally true of starting a new business in the country. Their advice is to plan everything in meticulous detail before launching any new projects.

Mikhail Ivanov, who owns a company called Unique Goods Centre, started his Chinese business two years ago. He spent a frustrating several months trying to set up the company in such a way as to be its outright owner - but to no avail. In the end, he was forced to set up a firm in his own name in Hong Kong, and register his business in mainland China as the Hong Kong firm's subsidiary.
For a foreigner trying to start up a business in China, obtaining all the necessary permits and registrations is often not the end of an arduous process, but just the beginning.

“When you hire Russians, they work for you only for as long as they need to understand all the intricate details of the business and establish all the necessary contacts,” Koshel complains. "Once that moment arrives, they quit to set up their own company, and take many of your customers with them." He has recently decided to hire only local Chinese staff from now on, even though this means that he will have to improve his Chinese language skills as soon as possible.
Experts say those skills, as well as the local business etiquette, are very important, especially during negotiations with Chinese partners. They also warn against some very common mistakes.

Sufficient demand

The Chinese government wants to provide an additional stimulus to domestic consumption as well as exports. In 2012 Russian-Chinese trade was up by 11.2 per cent to a record 88.16 billion dollars. Chinese exports to Russia rose by 13.4 per cent over the same period. Many Russian businesses are trying to cut costs, and looking to move production to China. This provides sufficient demand for the services of the numerous consulting companies set up by Russian migrants in China.

“Whenever you ask someone who has moved from Russia to China about their business, the answer is almost invariably the same,” says Anna Karavayeva, an independent consultant. She reckons that more than 90 per cent of the Russian companies in China focus on intermediary or consulting services. These services usually boil down to finding a local manufacturer for outsourcing; organizing local production; quality control; and shipping various Chinese goods to Russia. Smaller companies offer more or less the same range of services, only instead of looking for suitable Chinese manufacturers to set up local production they help Russian companies to find suppliers of Chinese goods.

 

[Wright]

What about Pakistani immigrants?

 

[beijingwalker]

over the history,the pattern is always people go where the money goes.

 

[China_Rising]

over the history,the pattern is always people go where the money goes.

Do you think we should attract very high IQ people, even though they may not be ethnic Chinese and may not be patriotic to the country?

For example, trying to snatch the couple million >130 IQ people in the world would add trillions worth in innovation and scientific research, and at the same time some in espionage and demographic change. China has 1.35 billion people though, and having 10 million of the highest IQ minds for example would not even change our population by more than 1%.

I think it should be considered.

 

[beijingwalker]

What about Pakistani immigrants?

A lot in Xinjiang where the two countries share border.

 

[beijingwalker]

Do you think we should attract very high IQ people, even though they may not be ethnic Chinese and may not be patriotic to the country?

For example, trying to snatch the couple million >130 IQ people in the world would add trillions worth in innovation and scientific research, and at the same time some in espionage and demographic change. China has 1.35 billion people though, and having 10 million of the highest IQ minds for example would not even change our population by more than 1%.

I think it should be considered.

As long as they are in China legally,otherwise they have to be sent home.

Beijing launches crackdown on illegal foreigners
BBC News - Beijing launches crackdown on illegal foreigners

 

[Wright]

Do you think we should attract very high IQ people, even though they may not be ethnic Chinese and may not be patriotic to the country?

For example, trying to snatch the couple million >130 IQ people in the world would add trillions worth in innovation and scientific research, and at the same time some in espionage and demographic change. China has 1.35 billion people though, and having 10 million of the highest IQ minds for example would not even change our population by more than 1%.

I think it should be considered.

Trying to snatch those Indians heading to the US are you? Clever, clever Chinese.

 

[China_Rising]

Trying to snatch those Indians heading to the US are you? Clever, clever Chinese.

Nah, Indians are the exception in this regard...

 

[beijingwalker]

We need tons of cheap laborers when labor shortage occurs in China,say in 10-20 years.low income yet very populous countries like India,Vietnam can provide a vast labor pool.

the good thing of using foreign workers is that companies dont have to pay for their retirement and medicare which are mandatory to be given to every employee in China.

 

[Icewolf]

We need tons of cheap laborers when labor shortage occurs in China,say in 10-20 years.low income yet very populous countries like India,Vietnam can provide a vast labor pool.

With China becoming wealthier, and low income workers turning to middle and high income, China must look torwards other means than its own population to jump back its manufacturing industry.

Low weath countries like India are a excellent source as inflation is high and rupee is crashing, meaning richer become richer and poor become poorer.

Great Idea
When will China start importing Indians to work in factories?

 

[beijingwalker]

With China becoming wealthier, and low income workers turning to middle and high income, China must look torwards other means than its own population to jump back its manufacturing industry.

Low weath countries like India are a excellent source as inflation is high and rupee is crashing, meaning richer become richer and poor become poorer.

Great Idea
When will China start importing Indians to work in factories?

I guess we'll get Vietnamese first,we're more used to each other and many of them can read and speak Chinese.

 

[northeast]

We need tons of cheap laborers when labor shortage occurs in China,say in 10-20 years.low income yet very populous countries like India,Vietnam can provide a vast labor pool.

the good thing of using foreign workers is that companies dont have to pay for their retirement and medicare which are mandatory to be given to every employee in China.

Now this is stupid.it will drag down the IQ of chinese，and china would never become a highly devoloped country.Why don't you just let them do their worthless job for us in their own countries？do you have some low IQ fetish？AFAIK，no one country is that stupid nowadays.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

China's raise isn't fairly certain, but around the corner.

A lot in Xinjiang where the two countries share border.

I'm a Saudi, please take me in?

 

[Okemos]

Some of you are really nasty and racist. Also China is not an immigration country so we don't need any immigrants. Why are we practicing one-child policy while letting foreigners in? However, immigrants should get fair and equal treatments when they do immigrate to China.

Plus, you cannot keep wages artificially low and not give immigrants proper welfare. That's just nasty and it will only drag the whole country's wages and living standard down, unless you want China to be permanent low wage country. Learn to adapt instead of making stupid toys and cloths with cheap labor.

Also if China does have labor shortage, it can simply restore dual citizenship law that was abolished by the CCP in 1980. There are quite a lot Chinese diaspora in Burma, Laos, Indonesia, Phillipines, etc that have lower wages.

 

[Okemos]

China's raise isn't fairly certain, but around the corner.




I'm a Saudi, please take me in?

mmm are you joking? I thought Saudi Arabia is high income country! Can you bring me some oil with you when you do come? hehe