The African Diaspora

Guangzhou Public Security Bureau's website confirms that 30 day visas are issued for businesspeople and that the number of Africans in the city with valid visas number 20 000.

However many insiders believe the actual number of Africans in Guangzhou exceeds 100 000, meaning a substantial illegal contingent.

Adams Bodomo, Associate Professor and Chair of the Linguistics & African Studies Programme at Hong Kong University, has done extensive research on the African Diaspora in Asia, particularly China. Bodomo recently wrote a paper about the African community in Guangzhou.

"In my estimation we have as many as 100 000 Africans in Guangzhou," he said.

A giveaway that visas are indeed an issue for authorities are the large red English/Chinese banners reading: "Please abide by Chinese laws otherwise legal action will be taken" and "Please extend your visa or residence permit before expiry," put up by police at the entrance of each major wholesale market in Africatown.

Bodomo said the Chinese Government has the right to treat illegal immigrants in accordance with their law. He said, however, based on his extensive research he has credible reports of how police would "catch an illegal immigrant, get money from him and let him off, and then re-arrest him again to get more money from him".

Repeated requests to the Guangzhou PSB to validate this went unanswered. But a local official (who declined to use his name) said that such rapidly increasing overseas immigrants, especially those from Africa, do pose a challenge to local administration authorities, just as the same immigration posed a problem for other big countries such as the United States.

Xiao Zhenyu, Director of Guangzhou Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, said the influx of large numbers of African people to the city might indicate their increased engagement in valuable trading activities.

He admires the contribution Africans have made to the city's economic development. "They contribute tariff increases, help expand market share of Guangzhou products, which are attractive in price and quality, and promote Guangdong culture worldwide," he said.

But people who stay in a country illegally are not welcome not only by Guangzhou but also in any other place in the world, Xiao added.

On page three: not all Africans are struggling to make ends meet...