For the first time, Beijing is mulling the introduction of an immigration law. It is a historic step. Traditionally, the mainland has been a huge source of economic migrants to other nations. Now, according to the experts advising the government on the new law, China's buoyant economy means it has become increasingly attractive to foreigners since the onset of the global financial crisis.
There are many on the mainland who will welcome a law on immigration, perhaps for the wrong reasons. Distrust of foreigners remains a widespread, if mostly understated, phenomenon and one frequently motivated by racism. It's the reason the African community in Guangzhou attracts so much media attention despite numbering less than 10,000, although alarmist reports in the Guangzhou Daily like to put the figure at 100,000.
The reality is that the number of long-term foreign workers remains tiny compared to the vast local population. In Beijing, there are just 110,000; in Shanghai, 152,000. According to the Ministry of Public Security, fewer than 600,000 foreigners stayed to work for longer than six months in 2007, the last year for which figures are available. To put it into perspective, that's roughly the population of a county-level city on the mainland.
Compared with European Union countries, which allow a free flow of citizens from member states and see annual movements of hundreds of thousands of people from one nation to another, the idea that the mainland is being swamped by immigrants is laughable. Why, then, do authorities feel the need to introduce an immigration law? The answer lies in Beijing's deep-seated urge for control. That's why, in November, foreign residents will be included in the next national census for the first time.
While there is no timetable for the introduction of the law, it has already been reported by Xinhua that it will divide potential immigrants into categories such as skilled and unskilled labour. It will also distinguish between those who plan to come to the mainland purely to work, and the ones who are planning to invest in the country.
Those divisions seem wholly unnecessary given the current pattern of legal immigration. Overwhelmingly, the foreigners who come to the mainland are those whose skills are needed, or who establish businesses that provide tax revenue and employment for the locals. Even the English teachers - the traditional job for those who arrive without employment - are providing a valuable service.
