Chinese people in Serbia
Encyclopedia
The number of Chinese people in Serbia is estimated at around 20,000 people. The community resides mainly in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

's capital, Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

. Most have their origin in two provinces south of the Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

 region. None of the Chinese have Serbian citizenship
Serbian citizenship
Serbian nationality law defines who is legally a citizen of Serbia.In 2004 the National Assembly of Serbia passed a nationality law, which states that any foreign national with Serbian descent, is eligible for attaining Serbian citizenship...

.

Brief history

The Chinese immigration to Serbia was prompted after former Yugoslav
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...

 President Slobodan Milosevic
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...

 and his wife Mira Markovic visited China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 in 1997. They were 30 people in August 1998. There was a rumor that Milosevic imported over 50,000 Chinese people and gave them Yugoslav
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

 passports
Yugoslav passport
The Yugoslav passport was issued to citizens of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for the purpose of international travel. The Yugoslav passport has been described as highly regarded and that with it immigrants were able to find jobs among European firms trading with the East and other...

 so that they could vote for him in elections. Other rumors say that the Chinese arrived here in order to take language courses. The newspaper, Vecernje Novosti
Vecernje novosti
Večernje novosti is a Belgrade-based daily newspaper. Founded in 1953, it quickly grew into a high-circulation daily.It first appeared on stands on October 16, 1953 edited by Slobodan Glumac who set the newspaper's tone for years to come...

, says one part of town in particular has had a complete Chinese village transplanted into it: "The entire population of the Chinese village of Jincun in the Zhejiang province has moved to Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

, specifically to Blok 70 where they have businesses in the local center (Kineski centar, "Chinese center") in the suburb of Novi Beograd
Novi Beograd
Novi Beograd or New Belgrade is the most populous municipality that constitutes the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a planned city, built in 1947 on the left bank of the Sava river which was previously an uninhabited area, opposite of the old Belgrade...

."

The Chinese send their children to schools in China when they have reached age for primary school, to learn the Chinese language like natives, something that is important for the community.

Besides Belgrade (Blok 70), there is also a sizable Chinese community in the second largest Serbian city Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

, which has a Chinese trade center, as well as many Chinese shops and restaurants.

Only 223 Chinese have working permits, meaning that Belgrade's 4,000-5,000 Chinese workers profit from Underground economy
Underground economy
A black market or underground economy is a market in goods or services which operates outside the formal one supported by established state power. Typically the totality of such activity is referred to with the definite article as a complement to the official economies, by market for such goods and...

.
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