History
The first wave of Chinese immigration to Serbia occurred during the late 1990s and was driven by relaxed visa policies. The first larger groups of Chinese migrants settled in Serbia in the late 1990s, moving southward after unfavorable changes in Hungary’s visa requirements. They were mostly traders originating from China’s southern provinces, Zhejiang and Fujian, operating transnational businesses (distributing goods across the Balkans) and living in relatively isolated communities. The Serbian daily newspaper, Večernje novosti, reported that one part of Belgrade in particular has had a complete Chinese village transplanted into it: "the entire population of the Chinese village of Jincun, Kaihua County of Zhejiang province, has moved to Belgrade, specifically to Blok 70 neighborhood in New Belgrade where they have businesses in the local center (Kineski centar, "Chinese center")."
In recent years, the second wave of Chinese in Serbia came but it was rather due to mobility than migration. Chinese investment projects brought about a new migration wave, with fixed-term migrants moving to Serbia, including manual laborers and mid- and upper-management. This is the first time that Chinese construction workers have migrated to a European country in such numbers and under interstate agreements, marking a shift from Chinese labor that has been present in Europe in the form of catering work or garment workshops, both often illegal and invisible. [4] Recent Chinese presence to the towns of Zrenjanin and Bor is driven by major industrial projects like the Linglong Tire factory in Zrenjanin and Zijin Mining’s copper mining complex in Bor. While Zrenjanin sees a more project-specific, transient workforce, Bor hosts a larger, more visible Chinese community, raising social concerns among locals. The lack of integration has sparked tensions, evident primarily in social media sentiment. [5]
