Indians in China are migrants from theRepublic of India to thePeople's Republic of China and their descendants, the majority of whom areEast Indians, mainly being fromWest Bengal andBihar. There is also a significant proportion ofNorth Indians (such asHimachal Pradesh andSikkim). Only 550 Indians have citizenship in China. In modern times, there is a large long-standing community ofIndians living in Hong Kong, often for descendants with several generations of roots and a growing population of students, traders and employees inmainland China.
TheSixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China recording 15,051 Indian nationals living in mainland China as of 2010.[1]
In theRecords of the Grand Historian,Zhang Qian (d. 113 BC) andSima Qian (145–90 BC) make references to "Shendu" (身毒) known as "Sindhu" inSanskrit. WhenYunnan was annexed by theHan dynasty in the first century, Chinese authorities reported an Indian "Shendu" community living there.[2] After the transmission of Buddhism from India to China from the first century onwards, many Indian scholars and monks travelled to China, such asBatuo (fl. 464–495 AD)—founder of theShaolin Monastery—andBodhidharma—founder ofChan/Zen Buddhism.Dharmakṣema, a Buddhist monk fromMagadha, travelled to China in the fifth century CE and was responsible for the translation of many importantMahayana sutras.[3] Some notable scholars from the Buddhist monastery ofNalanda inBihar also travelled to China during the medieval period includingPrabhakāramitra (564–633),[4]Vajrabodhi (671–741) andDhyānabhadra (1289–1363).[5]
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Aurel Stein discovered 5 letters written in Sogdian known as the "Ancient Letters" in an abandoned watchtower near Dunhuang in 1907. A letter in the collection was written by the Sogdian Nanai-vandak addressed to Sogdians back home in Samarkand informing them about a mass rebellion by Xiongnu Hun rebels against their Han Chinese rulers of the Western Jin dynasty informing his people that every single one of the diaspora Sogdians and Indians in the Chinese Western Jin capital Luoyang died of starvation due to the uprising by the rebellious Xiongnu, who were formerly subjects of the Han Chinese. The Han Chinese emperor abandoned Luoyang when it came under siege by the Xiongnu rebels and his palace was burned down.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
During the Yuan dynasty there was also a large Tamil Indian community inQuanzhou city andJinjiang district who built more than a dozen Hindu temples or shrines, including two grand big temples in Quanzhou city. In 1271, a visiting Italian merchant recorded that the Indians "were recognised easily." "These rich Indian men and women mainly live on vegetables, milk and rice," he wrote.[17] Due to theIspah rebellion, most of the Tamil Indians were killed.
Indians (as well as people from elsewhere in the Portuguese colonial empire) were among the crew of the Portuguese ships trading on the Chinese coastbeginning in the sixteenth century. For example,Galeote Pereira, one of the Portuguese smugglers captured off theFujian coast in 1549 and exiled toGuangxi, mentionsGujarati servants among his companions.[18] In the same century Indians from formerPortuguese Indian Colonies (notablyGoa) settled inMacau in small numbers.[19]
The history of theIndians in Hong Kong could be drawn back since the day ofBritish occupation. When the Union flag of theUnited Kingdom was hoisted on 26 January 1841, there were around 2,700[20] Indian troops participated. They had played an important role for the development of Hong Kong in early days. The most mentionable were the contributions of the set up of theUniversity of Hong Kong (HKU)[21] and theHong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).[22] Also, promoting and improving the image of India trade in Hong Kong andsouthern China.
The number in the mainland is growing rapidly with theSixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China recording 15,051 Indian nationals living in mainland China as of 2010.[1] Other sources report more with a columnist for theEconomic Times stating that the number of Indians in China was 45–48,000 in 2015.[23] Many Indians in China are students, traders and professionals employed with MNCs, Indian companies and banks. There are three Indian community associations in the country.[24]
There are a total 23,000 Indian students in China in 2019 and among them 21,000 study medicine.[25] Students fromAndhra Pradesh are particularly well represented with 5,000 medical students in China reported in 2011.[26][27]
The growth of Indian medical students at Chinese medical universities started in 2003 after the Medical Council of India (MCI) accepted Chinese medical degrees for qualification in India. For the academic year 2019–20, MCI recognised English language degrees from 45 universities and colleges in China.[25] Chinese medical schools are attractive because of better infrastructure, labs and equipment, and lower cost with annual tuition around $4,000 in 2020, about half of the cost of private medical schools in India.[25]
Most Indians stepped into the fields like international companies,banking,airlines,travel agents,medical,media andinsurance sector.[28] The banking andfinancial sector had the strongest presence of Indian professionals.Information technology andtelecommunications have also interested highly qualified Indians. In the 1950s,tailoring had become an industry that was popular with Indians and around 200 tailoring shops were owned by them at that time.[citation needed]
The Indian Embassy has been organising the Festival of India in China over the years. An important component of it has been the food festivals held in Indian restaurants, spread over nearly 45 Chinese cities.
