Chinese Laotian
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
185,000 1 to 2 percent of the Laotian population |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Vientiane • Phonsavan • LuangPrabang • Pakse | |
| Languages | |
| Lao • Teochew • Cantonese • Southwestern Mandarin | |
| Religion | |
| Theravada Buddhism • Mahayana Buddhism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Overseas Chinese |
The Laotian Chinese are an overseas Chinese community who live in Laos. At present they constitute an estimated 2% of the population. The Laotian Chinese community have a disproportionately large presence in the Laotian business sector and dominate the Laotian economy today.
Many modern Laotian Chinese have reinvented themselves to assert a more traditional Chinese identity to more easily create economic links to conduct business between Laos and Mainland China. Though assimilation into Laotian society is highly favored, the approbation of those “marks” of Chinese cultural membership which are commonly considered to be the most important while concurrently maintaining allegiance to Laos..
For example, many Sino-Laotian parents wish to have their children learn Mandarin to reaffirm their Chinese identity in the hope that they will thus be able to financially benefit from the Mainland Chinese economic boom as future entrepreneurs and investors serving as economic intermediaries between Mainland China and Laos. Many Laotian Chinese families have their children learn Chinese to reaffirm their Chinese identity as Mandarin has been increasingly the primary language of business for Overseas Chinese business communities. The rise of China's global economic prominence has prompted many Laotian Chinese business families to see Mandarin as a beneficial asset to partake economic links to conduct business between Laos and Mainland China.
Most Laotian Chinese are descendants of older generations who moved down from the Southern China provinces from the 19th century and present. Most have ancestry from the provinces of: Yunnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan and, Guizhou. Laotian Chinese are mostly Teochew and Cantonese, but some also speak Southwestern Mandarin from the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan. Today in Laos, many ethnic Chinese migrants have decided to reside in Laos, making the population rise by a couple of thousands. Many ethnic Chinese were also involved in constructing the 2009 Southeast Asian Games venues held in Vientiane. During the 1970s and 1980s, after the Communist Pathet Lao came into power, some Laotian Chinese fled to Thailand and other countries. The U.S. also has a significant Laotian Chinese population. Many still practice certain Chinese traditions and customs as their ancestors did. Most of the ethnic Chinese in Laos fled the country during the Communist takeover in 1975.
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Wikipedia