Naturalized athletes of China

Alex Hua Tian, the first ever naturalized Olympic athlete of China, who competed in the individual eventing at the Summer Olympics in 2008, 2016, and 2020.

The naturalized athletes of China are those naturalized citizens who are part, or have been part, of the People's Republic of China national teams in international competitions or Olympic sports.

The rules

Main article: Chinese nationality law

• Article 3
  • "The People's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national."
• Article 4
  • "Any person born in China whose parents are both Chinese nationals or one of whose parents is a Chinese national shall have Chinese nationality."
• Article 5
  • "Any person born abroad whose parents are both Chinese nationals or one of whose parents is a Chinese national shall have Chinese nationality. But a person whose parents are both Chinese nationals and have both settled abroad, or one of whose parents is a Chinese national and has settled abroad, and who has acquired foreign nationality at birth shall not have Chinese nationality."
• Article 7
  • "Foreign nationals or stateless persons who are willing to abide by China's Constitution and laws and who meet one of the following conditions may be naturalized upon approval of their applications:
    • (1) "they are near relatives of Chinese nationals;
    • (2) "they have settled in China; or
    • (3) "they have other legitimate reasons." ^[1]

The list

Sport	Country of origin	Origin name	Chinese name	Gender	Born	Naturalized	Reasons
Summer sports
Athletics	Canada	Nina Schultz	郑妮娜力 (Zheng Ninali)	F	1998	2021	Born in Canada to a Chinese mother and a Canadian-born father. [2]
Artistic gymnastics	Ukraine	Guo Meilin	郭媚琳 (Guo Meilin)	F	2007	2021	Born in Ukraine to a Chinese father and a Ukrainian mother. [3]
Basketball	United States	Kyle Anderson	李凯尔 (Li Kaier)	M	1993	2023	Born in United States with 1/8 Chinese ancestry (His maternal grandmother's father was Chinese).
Equestrian	Britain	Alex Hua Tian	华天 (Hua Tian)	M	1989	2006	Born in the UK to a Chinese father and a British mother. [4]
Football	Brazil	Elkeson	艾克森 (Ai Kesen)	M	1989	2019	Settled in China for a long time. [5]
	Britain	Nico Yennaris	李可 (Li Ke)	M	1993	2019	Born in the UK to a mother of Chinese origin and a Cypriot father. [6]
	Britain	Tyias Browning	蒋光太 (Jiang Guangtai)	M	1994	2020	Born in the UK to a mother of Chinese origin and a British father. [7]
	Brazil	Aloísio	洛国富 (Luo Guofu)	M	1988	2020	Settled in China for a long time. [8]
	Brazil	Alan Carvalho	阿兰 (A Lan)	M	1989	2020	Settled in China for a long time. [9]
	Brazil	Fernandinho	费南多 (Fei Nanduo)	M	1993	2020	Settled in China for a long time. [10]
Winter sports
Figure skating	United States	Ashley Lin	林姗 (Lin Shan)	F	2003	2019	Born in the US to Chinese parents with U.S. citizenship. [11]
	United States	Beverly Zhu	朱易 (Zhu Yi)	F	2002	2018	Born in the US to Chinese parents with U.S. citizenship. [12]
Freestyle skiing	United States	Eileen Gu	谷爱凌 (Gu Ailing)	F	2003	2019	Born in the US to a Chinese mother and an American father. [13]
Ice hockey	Canada	Ty Schultz	郑恩来 (Zheng Enlai)	M	1997	2017	Born in Canada to a Chinese mother and a German father. [14]
	Canada	Kimberly Newell	周嘉鹰 (Zhou Jiaying)	F	1995	2018	Born in Canada to a Chinese mother and a Canadian father. [15]
Short track speed skating	South Korea	Lim Hyo-jun	林孝俊 (Lin Xiaojun)	M	1996	2020	At the invitation of the Chinese Skating Association. [16]
	Hungary	Shaolin Sándor Liu	劉少林 (Liú Shàolín)	M	1995	2023	Born in Hungary to a Chinese father and a Hungarian mother. [17]
	Hungary	Shaoang Liu	刘少昂 (Liú Shào'áng)	M	1998	2023	Born in Hungary to a Chinese father and a Hungarian mother. [17]

See also

• Chinese nationality law
• List of Chinese naturalized footballers

References

1. "中华人民共和国国籍法(附英文)". chinatranslation.net. Archived from the original on November 22, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
2. Blackwell, Tom (April 1, 2021). "Rising Canadian athlete switches citizenship, hoping to compete for China in Tokyo Olympics". National Post . Retrieved August 11, 2021.
3. "乌克兰母亲会武术 混血美女能给中国带来金牌吗". Sina Sports (in Chinese). March 22, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
4. Williams, Ollie (August 23, 2014). "World Equestrian Games: China's 'one in a billion' rider Hua Tian". BBC Sport . Retrieved August 7, 2016.
5. Church, Michael (August 18, 2019). "Soccer: Brazil-born Elkeson included in China squad in landmark move". Reuters . Retrieved August 19, 2019.
6. "李可或在春节期间随母返回广东 进行认祖归宗仪式". Sina Sports (in Chinese). February 1, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
7. "高拉特明年或以内援身份注册 布朗宁已获中国国籍". Sina Sports (in Chinese). July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
8. "曝阿兰洛国富已具备为国足出战资格 高拉特待确认". Sina Sports (in Chinese). March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
9. An, Xiaojun (December 24, 2019). "归化球员的2019：生涯转折点 六大归化全面退步..." Titan Sports (in Chinese). Retrieved December 25, 2019.
10. Shi, Futian (March 17, 2020). "Fernandinho indiscipline sparks concerns over naturalization". China Daily . Retrieved March 21, 2020.
11. "Naturalized Lin eyes Olympic glory". China Daily. Xinhua News Agency. September 18, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
12. "中国花滑归化第一人首秀确定 有望参加北京冬奥会". Sina Sports (in Chinese). June 21, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
13. "中国滑雪首位归化运动员！15岁华裔少女转换国籍". Sina Sports (in Chinese). June 6, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
14. Greig, Murray (March 26, 2018). "Putting some Finnish on China's chances". China Daily. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
15. "Hockey goaltender Kim Newell '16 represents China at the Beijing Winter Olympics". The Princetonian. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
16. "S. Korean-born Olympic short track champion applies for Chinese citizenship". The Korea Herald . Yonhap News Agency. March 7, 2021. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
17. "Liu brothers join the ranks". China Daily. March 27, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.