Chinese community in Pakistan
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 60,000 | |
| Languages | |
| Chinese · Uyghur · English · Urdu · other languages of China | |
| Religion | |
| Islam · Buddhism, Taoism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Overseas Chinese |
The Chinese people in Pakistan (Urdu: چینی) comprise one of the country's significant expatriate communities. There were estimated to be 10,000 Chinese people living and working in Pakistan as of 2009[update]. By 2013, this number grew to 20,000. This includes around 8,112 Chinese workers in Pakistan as of 2015. By 2017, the population was reported at 30,000. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is expected to raise the expatriate population. According to most recent official figures, there are at least 60,000 Chinese nationals living in Pakistan; according to other estimates however, the total population is as high as 400,000. The majority of expatriates are found in the cities of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
During the 1940s many Chinese Muslims fled unrest in China and settled in Karachi. However the Chinese community there is primarily of non-Muslim origins; their ancestors were Buddhists, but subsequent generations follow other religions or none at all. About 30% are estimated to have converted to Islam.
Most Chinese in Karachi are second generation children of immigrants—the oldest generation have mostly died off, while the third generation have emigrated to other countries. Common destinations for emigrants are the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, or to their ancestral country China. They rarely wear Chinese clothing, but still retain the Chinese language, though in recent years they have shown increasing language shift towards Urdu. Previously, the community was segregated by provincial origin, but with the establishment of a Chinese Committee to represent the community, they have become more integrated. They are concentrated in a few neighbourhoods, including near the PECHS and Tariq Road, as well as Saddar and more recently Clifton and Defence neighbourhoods in Saddar Town. The Clifton and Defense Society areas has about 15 Chinese restaurants; the area is sometimes unofficially referred to as "Chinatown". One of the more well-known of these, the ABC Chinese Restaurant, founded by Li Dianxian (李殿贤) in the 1930s, was once patronised by Zhou Enlai, and continued operating until 1988.
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