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ConferenceSchedule

Day1:Thursday25thApril

8:45-9:15 Registration&Coffee(SecondFloorLobby)

9:15-9:30 Welcome&Introduction

9:30-11:30Panel1:Law&PolicyChair:FrankPieke

9:30-10:00BjörnAhl

LabourRightsofInternationalMigrantsinChinaUniversityofCologne 

10:00-10:30EvaLenaRichter TheImplementationofLawsandRegulations

ConcerningForeignStudents’InternshipsandPart-timeJobsinChinaUniversityofCologne 

10:30-11:30TabithaSpeelman ChinaasanImmigrationCountry?MappingDebate

onChina'sImmigrationPolicyReformLeidenUniversity 

11:00-11:30 Coffee

11:30-13:00Panel2:DevelopmentChair:GordonMathews

11:30-12:00

WangFeng,YongCai,ShenKe,ZhuQin,&ShenJie OneCity,ThreePeoples:Migration,Immigration

andtheMakingofGlobalShanghaiFudanUniversity,UniversityofCalifornia,UniversityofNorth

Carolina

12:00-12:30HuaichuanRui

OverseasChineseandRegionalDevelopmentRoyalHolloway,UniversityofLondon

12:30-13:00JieShen MakingTransnationalSpaceUnderUrban

Entrepreneurialism:ResidentialPatternsofForeignPopulationinShanghaiFudanUniversity

13:00-14:30 Lunch(GroundFloorRestaurant)

14:30-17:00Panel3:Ethnicity&IdentityChair:ElaineLynn-EeHo

14:30-15:00PaulAnderson YemenisinYiwu:theEurasianDynamicsofan

EmergingMerchantDiasporaUniversityofCambridge

15:00-15:30GordonMathews AsylumSeekersasSymbolsofHongKong’sNon-

ChinesenessChineseUniversityofHongKong

15:30-16:00 Coffee

16:00-16:30BiaoXiang "IwasHuiYesterday,andamaMuslimToday":

IdentityReconfigurationAmongMigrantChinese-ArabicTranslatorsinSouthChinaOxfordUniversity 

16:30-17:00BeatriceZani “IwanttobeaBoss!”MigrantWomen’sReturn

UrbanandProfessionalCareersfromTaiwantoChinaLyon2University

18:00-19:00 Social(GroundFloorReservedBarArea)

19:00–Late ConferenceDinner(SecondFloorConferenceRoom)

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Day2:Friday26thApril

8:30-9:00 Coffee(SecondFloorLobby)

9:00-10:30Panel4:TalentChair:BjörnAhl

9:00-9:30LinGoethals ChinaasaTalentMagnet:TheStudentMobility-

MigrationNexusinEU-ChinaRelationsEU-AsiaInstitute,ESSCASchoolofManagement

9:30-10:00HélèneLeBail

TheMigrationofExpertsandSavoir-Faire.TheCaseofFrenchCuisineProfessionalsinShanghai

CNRS(FrenchNationalScientificResearchCentre),EUAsiaInstitute,

ESSCABusinessSchool

10:00-10:30AndreaStřelcová

“WeAreGuests.”TheMigrationofEuropeanTalentsinChinaEU-AsiaInstitute,ESSCASchoolof

Management 

10:30-11:00 Coffee

11:00-12:00Panel5:GovernanceChair:XiangBiao

11:00-11:30KaKinCheuk EverydayForeignerManagementinaChinese

County-SeatRiceUniversity

11:30-12:00FranziskaPlümmer ChineseBorderResidents:Differentiated

CitizenshipandMobilityintheSino-MyanmarBorderZoneTubingenUniversity 

12:00-13:00 Lunch(GroundFloorRestaurant)

13:00-14:30Panel6:MarriageChair:HélèneLeBail

13:00-13:30

ElenaBarabantseva,CarolineGrillot,

&MichaelaPelican BornAcrossStateBorders:UncertainCitizenshipofChinese-ForeignChildreninChinaUniversityofManchester,

UniversityofLyon,&UniversityofCologne

13:30-14:00SaheiraHaliel(HeilaSha) TransnationalMarriageinYiwu,China:Mobility,

Settlement,andChildren'sEducationUniversityofSussex

14:00-14:30GuofuLiu

MarriageMigrationintoChinaanditsLawsBeijingInstituteofTechnology

14:30-15:00 Coffee

15:00-17:00

RoundTable&FutureResearch

BjörnAhl(Cologne),BenjaminHaas(MERICS),ElaineLynn-EeHo(NUS),GuofuLiu(BIT),GordonMathews(CUHK),FrankPieke(LeidenandMERICS),

WangFeng(Fudan)

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Introduction

This conference brings together research findings generated by the ‘Immigration and

the Transformation of Chinese Society’ project that has aimed to observe, record and

examinedynamics, trajectories,andsocietal implicationsof internationalmobilityand

immigration in the People’s Republic of China. This two-day event is a concluding

researchprojectforumfortheparticipatingteamstoshareresearchfindings,offertheir

new conceptualizations and theorizations, exchange ideas for future research

partnerships,andcommunicateresearchoutcomestoawiderresearchcommunityand

beyond.

TheimpactofimmigrationontheChinesenationandsocietyislikelytoincreaseinthe

coming years and the dynamics of changes that it brings about call for continuous

collaborativeandinterdisciplinaryresearchefforts.This forumwillsynergizeresearch

findings and explore future research directions and collaborations. In particular, the

conferencewill offer new research insights in the following areas: popular, academic

andgovernmentresponsestothegrowingpresenceofinternationalmigrantsinChina;

immigration law and practices of citizenship; foreign trading communities and their

socialnetworks,marriagemigrationsanddiversificationoffamilylivesinChina;foreign

and Chinese returnees high-skilled migrants; the interactions between immigration,

urbanizationandthelabourmarket;andtheimpactoftheprocessesofhumanmobility

and cultural diversity interaction on the Chinese notions of the nation-state,

international order, sovereignty, citizenship and identity. The conference will also

initiateexchangesonChina’schangingroleinthemigrationorderandhowthisaspect

of China’s globalization compares to immigration and diversity in more established

immigrationsocietiesinAsia,EuropeandNorthAmerica.

ProjectWebsite:

https://immigrantchina.net

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Panel1:Law&Policy

LabourRightsofInternationalMigrantsinChina

BjörnAhlUniversityofColognebjoern.ahl@me.com

Based on the availability of more than 65 million court decisions in open-accessdatabases,weanalysedcourtpracticewithrelationtotheprotectionofthelabourrightsof foreign employees in China. We discovered considerable differences of levels ofprotectionprovidedbycourtstoforeignnationalsinlabourdisputes.Ingeneral,courtsin Beijing and Guangzhou extended significantly better legal protection to foreignemployeesthancourtsinShanghai.Incurrentjudicialpracticewecanobservethatbothgroups, foreign employees with and without a valid work permit, do not receive thesame levelof labour rightsprotectionasChinesenationals.The legislative frameworkthatgovernstheemploymentrelationsbetweenlocalemployersandforeignemployeesis still based on the assumption that foreign employees do not need statutoryprotections of labour rights. As international law that aims at protecting migrantworkersacknowledgestheequaltreatmentofnationalsandnon-nationalswithregardof the protection against unjustified dismissal as a minimum standard, the Chineselegislator should consider to bring the current legislation into conformitywith thosebasicinternationalstandards.

TheImplementationofLawsandRegulationsConcerningForeignStudents’

InternshipsandPart-timeJobsinChinaEvaLenaRichter

UniversityofCologne eva.l.richter@web.de

In recent years, the party-state has implemented a series of new policies to attractskilled foreigners to China. Some policies aim to further the internationalisation ofChineseuniversitiesandtheirstudentbodies,indicatingthegovernment’sawarenessofforeign students’ potential to satisfydemand for skilled foreignworkers.Onamacro-level,foreignstudentscanlegallyengageininternshipsandcertainworkactivitiessincethe 2013 Exit-Entry Law amendment. This paper presents and analyses theimplementationeffortsinBeijing,Shanghai,andGuangzhoubasedon localregulationsandinterviewswithstudents,conversationswithuniversities’ foreignstudentsoffices,workandgovernmentunitsthatwerecarriedoutfromSeptember2015untilMay2016.The results show that the actual effects of training foreign students differ from thoseintended.Toretain the talentedones, it is crucial that theymakepositiveexperiences

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during their. The local implementation and current regulatory framework adds,however, to the precariousness of foreign students’ work situations by increasingemployers’poweroverthemandmakingthemvulnerableforexploitation.Theofficialapproach so far is to prevent and heavily penalize foreigners without workauthorisation. This is weakening their position disproportionally in comparison toemploying units. The current approach also fails to recognize the existing demand ofjobbing foreign students by merely penalising the current set of strategies used tosatisfyit.Consequently,theexit-entrylawandregulationchangespartlystilldenythatthereisamuchhigherdemandforforeignworkersinChinathancurrentlyrecognizedand satisfied through the limited number of official migration channels. Foreignstudentsfilldemandgapsinthelabourmarketandoftendosoattheirowncost,takingrisksbyengaging inunauthorizedworkactivities. Inshort, thecurrentapproachdoesnotincreaseChina’sattractivenessasafutureworkplaceforexcellentforeignstudentsandmakesitdifficult forthemtogainpositivefirstexperiencesontheChineselabourmarketunderlegalcertainty.

ChinaasanImmigrationCountry?MappingDebateonChina'sImmigrationPolicyReform

TabithaSpeelmanLeidenUniversity 

j.t.speelman@hum.leidenuniv.nlIn April 2018, the Chinese government established a national-level ‘immigrationmanagement’ agency, kicking off a new chapter in the development of China’s policytowardsforeignersresidingwithinitsterritory.Thispaperexaminesthepolicydebatessurroundingthisdecisionandthereformswithintheexit-entrymanagementsystemofwhich it is part. As the Chinese government is simultaneously strengtheningimmigration management and developing its first policies aimed at the long-termintegration of foreign residents, who are the main actors driving immigration policyreform and what models do they advocate? What role dothink tank and researchcommunitiesplay?Andwhatistherelationshipbetweenpolicydevelopmentandtrendsinmediaandpublicdebate?Basedonsemi-structuredexpertinterviewsandtextualanalysis,thispapermapsoutapolicy area that is on the move after decades of relatively slow change. It aims tounderstand how Chinese policy makers conceptualize immigration to Chinaand itsfutureasthecountrytransformsintoaglobalpower.Itbuildsonexistingstudiesoftherole of elite actors in China in advocating reform in specific policy fields, while alsoexploring the impact of societal factors outside elite networks. In its focus ontheChinese government’s evolving attitude towards international immigration, itcontributestotheemergingfieldofresearchonforeigncommunitiesinChina,inwhichthedynamicsofnationalpolicydevelopmenthavesofarbeenunderstudied.

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Panel2:Development

OneCity,ThreePeoples:

Migration,ImmigrationandtheMakingofGlobalShanghaiWangFeng*1,2,YongCai1,3,ShenKe1,ZhuQin1,&ShenJie1

1FudanUniversity,2UniversityofCalifornia,3UniversityofNorthCarolinawangzy@fudan.edu.cn*

TherapidriseofShanghaiasaglobalcity inashort timespan(ofabouttwoandhalfdecades,since1992)hasreliedfirstandforemostonitspeople,ormorespecifically,thethree peoples who make up the Shanghai population. These three peoples are localresidents or the old Shanghainese, the large number of internal migrants, the newShanghainese,andthoughverysmallinnumberincomparisontothefirsttwogroups,the increasing number of international immigrants. During the two decades ofextraordinaryeconomicgrowth,Shanghai’spopulationincreasehascomeentirelyfrominternal and international migration. How did the migration and immigration toShanghai takeplace in the last threeandhalfdecades?Whatwillbe therolesof suchmigrationandimmigrationinShanghai’sfurtherascenttobecomeatop-tierglobalcity?What are the institutional barriers that need to be addressed and removed for thecontinuedmigrationandimmigration?Inthispaper,weattempttoaddressthesethreequestions.WereviewrecentchangesinShanghai’sdemographicprofile,focusingontherolesofinternalmigrationandinternationalimmigration.Wewillreportresultsofourpopulationprojectionexercises,illustratingthecriticalrolesofcontinuedmigrationandimmigrationinfulfillingShanghai’saspirationtobeatoptierglobalcityinthecomingdecades.Andwewilldiscusswhatinstitutionalarrangementsandpolicesareneededtoensuresuchcontinuedmigrationandimmigration.

OverseasChineseandRegionalDevelopmentHuaichuanRui

RoyalHolloway,UniversityofLondonHuaichuan.Rui@rhul.ac.uk

Chinahasexperiencedarapideconomicgrowthforfourdecades.Inthe1980s,overseasChinese fromTaiwan,HongKong, SingaporeandotherAsiancountries firstlybroughtforeigndirectinvestment(FDI).ThefollowedupFDIenabledChinatobethelargestFDIrecipient in the world. When China's further development required more domesticcapacity in research and development (R&D), many overseas Chinese scientists andscholars returned to China, leading high tech parks and supporting industries.“Millennium scholars” are such examples. These two categories of overseas Chinesehave been well studied. Comparatively, little research has been done to examine the

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contributionofoverseasChinesetoChina’sdramaticallyrisinginternationaltrade.Ifillthis gap by researching on overseas Chinese traders, who are estimated to sellmorethan90percent of theYiwugoods to over200 countries. Yiwuas oneof thepoorestcounty in China in the 1980s has beendeveloped into one of the richest cities at thepresent. I will examine how Overseas Chinese promote the regional development intheir home and host countries. The research is built on studies of migration, ethnicnetwork and regional development. It is a qualitative study based on interviews andcasestudies.InitialfindingsincludethecascadeeffectofoverseasChinesegeneratedontheregionaldevelopmentinYiwuandHungary.

MakingTransnationalSpaceUnderUrbanEntrepreneurialism:ResidentialPatternsofForeignPopulationinShanghai

JieShenFudanUniversity

shenj@fudan.edu.cnAlong with the arrival of foreign population, large-scale foreign communities haveemerged in Shanghai. Existing studies explain ethnic residential concentration as anoutcomeof assimilationor stratificationofdifferent groupsof internationalmigrants.However, the dynamics underlying the formation of foreign communities can bedifferent in different local contexts. Against this backdrop, this paper examines theresidential concentrationof foreignpopulationat theneighborhood level inShanghai.First, based on an analysis of official statistical data, residential patterns of foreignpopulation are examined. Second, a detailed case study of one foreign community isusedtoexaminetheunderlyingdynamicsofsuchethnicenclaves.TheresultsindicatethatforeignpopulationsarehighlyconcentratedinShanghai.Buttheformationoftheirresidencehasbeenledbythelocalstateaspartofitsglobalizationstrategy.

Panel3:Ethnicity&Identity

YemenisinYiwu:TheEurasianDynamicsofanEmergingMerchantDiaspora

PaulAndersonUniversityofCambridge

psa27@cam.ac.uk

MuchhasbeenwrittenaboutthehistoricHadhramawtitradingnetworkshailingfromthe east of Yemen which for centuries connected societies across the Indian ocean(Alatas 1997, Clarence-Smith 1997, Freitag 2003, Ho 2006, Manger 2010, Brehony2017). Less well documented however is the late-twentieth and early twenty-firstcenturytradingdiasporawhichhailsfromTaizzinthesouthwestofYemen.Thismore

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recent diaspora resides in and connects cities on China’s east and south east coast(notablyGuangzhou,YiwuandShanghai)withcitiesinotherpartsofEurasia,AfricaandnorthAmerica.ThispaperintroducesnetworksfromTaizzwhichplayacriticalroleinmoving low-grade Chinesemanufactured commodities betweenwholesalemarkets inYiwu and those in Dubai and Jeddah in the Arabian peninsula. It argues that theformationofthismobiletradingsocietycannotsimplybeunderstoodineconomictermsasaresponsetothecommercialopportunitiespresentedbytheaccessofChinatotheWTO and the globalisation of Chinese manufacturing. Following Marsden’s (2018)analysis of Afghan merchant networks, the paper situates the trading diaspora inrelationtobroaderEurasianpoliticalprojectsanddynamics.ItnotesthesignificanceofbothRussian andChinese socialist andpost-socialist patronage in sponsoringYemenistudent mobility; describes the interaction between this patronage and theestablishmentofYemeniinstitutions,neighbourhoodsandnetworksinthecityofYiwu;and connects the formation of these neighbourhoods and networks to the recentpoliticalmarginalisationofTaizwithinYemen.

AsylumSeekersasSymbolsofHongKong’sNon-ChinesenessGordonMathews

ChineseUniversityofHongKongcmgordon@cuhk.edu.hk

This article discusses the situation of asylum seekers in Hong Kong and how it haschangedinrecentyears.HongKongtreatsasylumseekersrelativelywellcomparedtosomeothersocieties,butatthesametime,thechanceofbeingacceptedasarefugeeisvirtuallyzero.Althoughitisillegalforasylumseekerstowork,itisvirtuallyimpossiblefor them not to work given the miniscule government support they receive. Amidstgovernmentneglect,asylumseekershaveemergedasheroesamongsomeHongKongyoung people after the Umbrella Movement. Whereas in years past, asylum seekersweregenerallyignoredorlookeddownuponbyHongkongers,amongsomeyouthtoday,asylum seekers have emerged as symbols of Hong Kong’s non-Chineseness.

"IwasHuiyesterday,andamaMuslimtoday":IdentityReconfigurationAmongMigrantChinese-ArabicTranslators

inSouthChinaBiaoXiang

OxfordUniversity biao.xiang@anthro.ox.ac.uk

ThisarticledoesnotdealwithimmigrantsinChinaperse,butexamineshowthearrivalof foreignMuslimtradersaffectsChineseMuslims’self identity.Thearticle focuseson

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theMuslims (Hui) Arabic-Chinese interpreters in the trading cities of GuangzhouandYiwu in southChina.Most of the translators came fromnorthwestChina, particularlyNingxiaHuiAutonomousRegion,fromthecountrysideorsmallcities,hadaneducationlevel of junior high school or lower. They learned basic Arabic at masjid/madrasasaffiliated with Mosques or privately-run Arabic language schools. In the process ofworkingforforeignMuslimtradersastranslatorsandpurchasingagents,theybecomemore assertive about being Chinese as well as being Muslims. At the same time,however,theydistancedfromtheHuiidentity.

ThisobservationcanbesignificantbecausetheHuiidentityhasbeenwidelyregardedasthebasis onwhich theHui, theoverwhelmingmajorityofMuslims inChina, combineChineseculturewithIslamicfaith.BeingaHuimeansbeingaChineseincultureandaMusliminfaith.Inthecurrentcontext,however,thetranslatorsregard“Hui”asavague,static, and even backward ethno-religious label, they instead embrace “Muslim” and“Chinese” as identities that they consciously chose in response to the globalized butfundamentallyunequalworld.Thus,thereconfigurationofcompositeidentityindicatesnew ways of how the translators think of the relations between ethnic identity andreligiousfaith,andtherelationsbetweenthenation,thestateandtheworld.

“IwanttobeaBoss!”MigrantWomen’sReturnUrbanandProfessionalCareersfromTaiwantoChina

BeatriceZaniLyon2University

beatrice.zani92@gmail.com

After rural-to-urban labormigration inChina and cross-bordermarriage-migration toTaiwan,someChinesefemalemigrantsareengagedintopost-divorcereturnmigration.Rather than a “failure” (Massey et al. 1993; Cassarino 2004), returnees perceive re-mobilityasachallengeandanopportunity.Thepluralityofordealsofsocial,economicandmoraldisqualificaionsenduredduringpluri-migrationenabledwomentodevelopspecific skills to survive and resist precarious and subaltern conditions. Havingcapitalizedimportantrepertoriesofsocial,economicandemotionalresources,togetherwith intangible competences and tacit knowledge (Polanyi 1966), returnees are“carriers of social change” (Cerase 1974) within their society of departure, China.Formalized(Carlingetal.2014)etinformal(HidalgoandHernandez2001)attachmentstodiverseplacesmultiplywomen’sopportunities.Returnisnottheendofthemigratorycycle(King2000,2012)butpartofcontinuous,synchronicandsimultaneousmovementwithinthetwosidesoftheStrait,highlyinterconnected.Whenmigratingback,womentend to firstlymove to their rural communitiesoforigin.However, thesenewmodernand ambitious selves quickly re-move to the cities they had previously worked in(dagong打工).PerformingtheirnewlyacquiredTaiwanesecitizenship,andrefusingto

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gobacktodagongwork,returneesoptforself-employment,fueledbyastrongcapacityof aspire (Appadurai 1999). By re-actualizing translocal social networks in China -previous colleagues or fellow villagers- and in Taiwan -Chinese “sisters”- womendevelop upward social mobility post-return careers. Within the Chinese “global city”(Sassen 1991, 2006) and its hyper-local neighborhoods, they produce sui generisphysicalandvirtualeconomicactivities.Entrepreneurshipisoftendevelopedondigitalplatforms(WeChat)andthroughdensetransnationalaffectionaltiesof“sisters”locatedinthedifferentphysicalandmoralspaceswomenunderwentduringmobilities.Withintimeandspacecompression(Bauman2001),physicallyorvirtually,womenconstantlymove back and forth, up and down the Strait: orbital mobilities and cosmopolitanbiographies(Beck1999)emerge.

Panel4:Talent

Chinaasatalentmagnet:

Thestudentmobility-migrationnexusinEU-ChinaRelationsLinGoethals

EU-AsiaInstitute,ESSCASchoolofManagementLin.Goethals@UGent.be

Internationalflowsofhighereducationstudentmobilityhavebeenontheriseglobally.In the context of EU-China cooperation, higher education cooperation and studentmobility havebecomemoreprominent since the beginning of the21stCentury. In theframework of circular migration and brain circulation, China has increasingly beenattracting more EU students and international students in general, increasinglybecomingadestinationforstudentmobility.Withinthescopeoftheglobalcompetitionfor talents, China has set the bars high in its aim to attract, train, engage and retainskilled brains. In order to thoroughly assess EU outgoing higher education studentmobility to China, we will introduce a classification of mobile EU students in China,basedonthestudents’intrinsicmotivationstochooseChinaasadestinationforstudentmobility,theirpersonalcharacteristics,aswellastheirmobilityfeatures,linkedtotheirmobility experiences and prospects of future engagementwith China and the region.HowattractiveisChinaasadestinationforEUstudentmobility?WhoarethemobileEUstudentsinChina,whydotheychooseChinaastheirmobilitydestination,howdotheyexperiencetheirstudymobilitytoChinaandhowdothey(planto)engagefurtherwiththe regionpost-mobility? IsChina retaining the talents it attracts ashigher educationstudentsandhowarethemobilityexperiencesofEUstudentsinChinavalorisedupongraduation?ThispaperwilloffervaluableinsightsforthefurtheranalysisofChinaasanattractionpole for EU talents and the linkbetweenEU studentmobility to China andmigrationinthecontextofEU-ChinaRelations.

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TheMigrationofExpertsandSavoir-Faire.

TheCaseofFrenchCuisineProfessionalsinShanghaiHélèneLeBail

CNRS(FrenchNationalScientificResearchCentre),EUAsiaInstitute,ESSCABusinessSchool

helene.lebail@sciencespo.frThis contribution focuseson thepracticeofFrenchcuisine inShanghaiandquestionsthepermanenceofthisprofessionalniche.Itcombinesananthropologicalapproachtoculinary techniques with a sociological approach to workforce migration, tracing theways in which the discourse and practices of chefs and maîtres d’hôtel working inFrench cuisine employ forms of ethnocultural and technical legitimacy. The case ofShanghai,acityundergoingrapidtransformationinitsmodesofconsumption,providesa clear illustration of the shifts that have occurred over the last ten years in thehierarchyofWesternmigrantsandChineselocals:thesymbolicandmaterialprivilegesoffered to the former are beginning to disappear and professional recognition isincreasinglybecomingbasedonsavoir-faireandastrongworkethic.

“WeAreGuests.”TheMigrationofEuropeanTalentsinChinaAndreaStřelcová

EU-AsiaInstitute,ESSCASchoolofManagement Andrea.STRELCOVA@essca.fr

WithgrossdomesticexpenditureonR&Dof2,1%in2013andgrowing,thegovernmentofthePeople’sRepublicofChinaisrecognizingtheneedofskilledpersonnelwithglobalexperience and international networks to fuel the transition towards the knowledge-based economy. China is transforming into a globally recognized, world-classdestination for research and higher education. Available funding and careeropportunitiesgoinghandinhandwithincreasedqualityoflifeinChinahaveattractedtalentsofall researchdisciplines toworkat theChinese institutions–mainlyChineseoverseasreturnees,butanumberofforeignresearchersfromacrosstheglobe.InmycontributionI focusonthemigrationofnon-ChineseEuropeanresearchers intoChina, their motivation for migration and their experience after the migration. Thepaperoutlines thepolicy level that is framing the skilledmigrationprocessand looksclosely at the individual perceptions of those policies. Using the concept of braincirculationandcapitalconversion, Iarguethatthecountry’sunprecedentedgrowthinscientific capacity has offered unique opportunities to European researchers but acombinationofinstitutionalandpolicy-levelsetbacksandpersonalfactorslimitstheirlong-term career growth in China. The natural scientists are facing vastly differentacademicenvironmentthatresearchers insocialsciencesandhumanities. Inanycase,

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foreign researchers’ careers are perceived as limited within the Chinese academicenvironment,wheretheyarelargelyunabletofullyintegrate.

Panel5:Governance

EverydayForeignerManagementinaChineseCounty-Seat

KaKinCheukRiceUniversity

ka-kin.cheuk@rice.edu

Thispaperpresentsthecrucialaspectsofeverydayencountersbetweenforeigntradersand Chinese cadres that constitute the part and parcel of foreigner management inKeqiao, a county-seat in eastern Zhejiang Province where thousands of South Asiantradershavebeenworking in textileexports foroveradecade.Drawingon long-termethnographicfieldworkandextensivedocumentaryresearchsince2009,itarguesthatnon-leading Chinese cadres – rather than policy-makers holding higher levels ofgovernmentoffices–arethekeyplayerswhohavedefinedthewayinwhichforeignermanagement is carried out in Keqiao. By examining government venues where non-leading cadres are set to dealwith foreigners, the paper illustrates how the everydayencounters have been shaping these cadres’ political sensibilities on foreigners,particularly those that are characterized by tolerance, flexibility, and mutualunderstanding.As such, it offers a little-known caseof China’s foreignermanagementthatlargelyoperateswithinitsownlocalsettings,whichcannotbesolelyexplainedbywhatthecentralgovernmenthasdoneontheforeignimmigrationcontrols.

ChineseBorderResidents:DifferentiatedCitizenshipandMobilityintheSino-MyanmarBorderZone

FranziskaPlümmerTubingenUniversity 

franziska.pluemmer@uni-tuebingen.deSince 1949, an official agreement on border management had been issued betweenChina and Myanmar. Although the Myanmar border side is de facto governed byindependentmilitary groups (Kachin and Shan states),more border regulationsweresignedthatregulatebordersecurityandbordermobility.WithintheseagreementsandwithintheChineseborderregime,theterm‘borderresident’(bianmin)wasintroducedthat constitutes a legal category in both countries. ‘Border residents’ are Chinese orMyanmarcitizenlivinginbordercommunitiesupto30kmalongtheborder.Theyhavebeenissued‘borderresidentcards’(bianminzheng)thatallowthemtocrosstheborderwithout passport or visa, and travel within the border zone. They, however, do notconstitute legal identification documents elsewhere on Chinese orMyanmar territory,

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they are only locally valid. This article analyses local practices of citizenship in theChinese-Myanmar border area, asking how the category of ‘border residents’ isintegratedintheChineseconceptofcitizenship.Buildingonexistingunderstandingsof‘graduated citizenship’ and ‘alternative citizenship’, the article explores the differentlegal and social implications of ‘border citizens’. I show how the category hasinstitutionally developed and increasingly become regulated by Chinese immigrationlaw.Thisway,the‘borderzone’hasbecomeadistinctadministrativezonethatissubjectto exceptional regulation. At the same time, local practices remain the same, largelyunshapedby thegovernment’sattempts to legalizecross-bordermobility. Iargue thattheChineseimmigrationsystemdevelopedthiscategoryfollowingabureaucraticlogicthat tries to ‘regulate the unregulated’ and exert sovereignty through exceptions thathoweverfailstoincorporatelocalrealities.

Panel6:Marriage

BornAcrossStateBorders:

UncertainCitizenshipofChinese-ForeignChildreninChinaElenaBarabantseva

UniversityofManchesterE.V.Barabantseva@manchester.ac.uk

CarolineGrillotUniversityofLyon

carolinegrillot@hotmail.comMichaelaPelican

UniversityofColognempelican@uni-koeln.de

International intimate relationships and marriages in China as sites of citizenshiptensions,cross-culturalcontactsandproblematicimmigrationlawshavebeenagrowingarea of scholarly inquiries. However, the role and place of children resulting frominformalrelationshipsandrecognisedmarriageshavenotbeencloselyconsidered.ThestatusofChinese-foreignchildrenisofparticularresearchinterestandconcern,because-- unlike their foreign parent who does not have a pathway to full citizenship --children’sstatushastobereconciledwithinChina’sstrictsinglecitizenshipregime.Itisthus important to understandhow irreconcilable tensions in the children’s status areaddressed and negotiated and the citizenship choice is made. Based on empiricalmaterial collected among Sino-Russian, Sino-Cameroonian and Sino-Vietnamesefamilies, we discuss the dilemmas of China’s citizenship regime concerning childrenbornacrossborders. Inparticular,wediscusspowerrelations in the familialdecision-makingprocess,everydayadaptationsandnegotiationsofchildren’scareandparentingresponsibilities, schooling, and social welfare. Focusing on the commonalities and

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differencesacrossourthreecasestudies,ouraimistooutlinehowchildren’scitizenshiptakesshapeattheintersticesofrace,gender,familynorms,socio-economicfactors,andrural and urban distinctions. In the context where children’s social and culturalinclusion in theChinese society is predicatedon thenarrowand strict policiesof thehouseholdregistration(hukou)andnationalitylaws(guoji),westresstheimportanceofunderstandinghowcultural,moralandlegaldimensionsofcitizenshipplayoutinmixedfamilies’negotiationsoftheirchildren’sstatusinChina.

TransnationalMarriageinYiwu,China:Mobility,Settlement,andChildren'sEducation

SaheiraHaliel(HeilaSha)UniversityofSussexH.Sha@sussex.ac.uk

In this paper, I examinr how the state internal and international migration policycombined with precarity in informal trading activities create sense of uncertaintyamong transnational families in termsof settlementandchildren’seducation inYiwu,China.Yiwu, the world’s largest wholesale market for small commodities in China haswitnessedfastgrowingtransnationalmarriagesinthelasttwodecades.Mosthusbandsin suchhouseholdsareMuslim traders fromAfrica,Arabicandsouth-Asiancountries.Themajorityofwivesaremigrants fromotherpartsofChina.Theirchildrencanonlyinherit mother’s hukou (household registration), thus both mother and children areexcluded from local social benefits due to hukou system. Meanwhile, as most malespouseareindividualentrepreneur,theyarefragiletostatepoliciesandglobalmarkets.Most recently with changing immigration policy in China and instability in globalmarket, some women in such households are under pressure to move to husband’scountryorathirdcountry,othersperceivepotentialuncertaintyinsettlement.Based on six months of fieldwork research in Yiwu, I will present the complexintertwine of trade, state policy, migration and family strategies. I argue thatintermarriageplaysanimportantroleinanchoringtradingnetworksinYiwu,however,such households face significant uncertainties due to structural constraints resultingfromstatepolicesandinstabilityinbothdomesticandglobaleconomiccircumstances.Furthermore,personaldimensionsofattachmentandfamilyorientationareimportantfactors for decisions for migration. Although women are active agents in negotiatingnewcircumstancestheiragencyhavelimitations.

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MarriageMigrationintoChinaanditsLawsGuofuLiu

BeijingInstituteofTechnologyaustralia2030@163.com

InChina‘foreignbride’referstoawomanwhoisanationalofaneighbouringcountryand living in China,who either applies formarriage registration or is in an informalcohabitationwithaChinesemalecitizen.ThetermrefersespeciallytowomenfromtheGreaterMekongSub-regioncountriesandtheDemocraticPeople’sRepublicofKorea.Inrecent years, due to economic and social factors and increase in cross-borderimmigration, the number and distribution of foreign brides in China has increasedexponentially.InChinaonlyforeignbrideswhoarelegallymarriedtoaChinesenationalcan obtain permanent residence or a visa. Many foreign brides have entered Chinaillegally and cohabit in Chinawithoutmarriage registration;many suchwomen havechildrenwiththeChinese‘husband’butdonothavealegalstatusinChina.Theissueof‘foreignbrides’hascausedmanynewproblemsforadministration,socialmanagementandprovisionofservices.Ithasbeenlinkedtocross-borderhumantrafficking.ThispresentationwillanalysetherequirementsunderChineselawforlegalentryandexit, for marriage registration and stay, permanent residence and naturalisation offoreign brides, and discuss challenges faced in the management and regulation ofimmigrationofforeignbrides.ItwillsuggestwaysinwhichpoliciesforimmigrationandthestatusofforeignbridesmightbeimprovedinChina.

RoundTable&FutureReseach

BjörnAhl(UniversityofCologne)

BenjaminHaas(MercatorInstituteforChinaStudies)

ElaineLynn-EeHo(NationalUniversityofSingapore)

GuofuLiu(BeijingInstituteofTechnology)

GordonMathews(ChineseUniversityofHongKong)

FrankPieke(LeidenUniversity&MercatorInstituteforChinaStudies)

WangFeng(FudanUniversity)

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ListofContacts

Name

Emails

BjörnAhl bjoern.ahl@me.comEvaLenaRichter eva.l.richter@web.deTabithaSpeelman j.t.speelman@hum.leidenuniv.nl

WangFeng fwang@uci.eduYongCai caiyong@unc.eduShenKe shenke@fudan.edu.cnZhuQin zhuqin@fudan.edu.cnShenJie shenj@fudan.edu.cn

HuaichuanRui Huaichuan.Rui@rhul.ac.ukPaulAnderson psa27@cam.ac.ukGordanMathews cmgordon@cuhk.edu.hk

BiaoXiang biao.xiang@anthro.ox.ac.ukBeatriceZani beatrice.zani92@gmail.comLinGoethals Lin.Goethals@UGent.beHélèneLeBail helene.lebail@sciencespo.frAndreaStřelcová Andrea.Strelcova@essca.frKa-KinCheuk ka-kin.cheuk@rice.edu

FranziskaPlümmer franziska.pluemmer@uni-tuebingen.deElenaBarabantseva E.V.Barabantseva@manchester.ac.ukCarolineGrillot carolinegrillot@hotmail.comMichaelaPelican mpelican@uni-koeln.de

SaheiraHaliel(HeilaSha) H.Sha@sussex.ac.ukGuofuLiu australia2030@163.com

BenjaminHaas benjamindavidhaas@gmail.comElaineLynn-EeHo elaine.ho@nus.edu.sg

FrankPieke f.n.pieke@hum.leidenuniv.nlMiriamDriessen miriam.driessen@area.ox.ac.ukPeterGries peter.gries@manchester.ac.ukTaoWang tao.wang-3@manchester.ac.ukDavidTobin david.tobin@manchester.ac.uk

AmaniMaihoub amanimaihoub@gmail.comDongchaoMin minal1994@yahoo.co.uk

ChoenYin(Helen)Chan Choenyin.Chan@manchester.ac.ukNoémieRouault Noemie.Rouault@manchester.ac.uk