There is a Chinese community in London. There are 120,250 Chinese people in London, comprising 1.5% of the city's population. 33% of ethnic Chinese people in the United Kingdom reside in London. As of 2000, more recent ethnic Chinese arrivals originated from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Vietnam while historically Chinese had migrated from Hong Kong, including the urbanised areas and the New Territories; Singapore; Malaysia; and elsewhere in southeast Asia.
History
John Eade, the author of Placing London: From Imperial Capital to Global City, stated that a Chinese community representative stated that in the 1780s Chinese sailors visited London, being the first Chinese to visit London. In the latter half of the 1800s the first wave of Chinese immigrants came to London. Chinese lived in Soho by the time World War II occurred. Since Hong Kong was a British territory, many Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong as well as Macau were either brought over or travelled to London and subsequently the rest of the U.K. Another wave of Chinese immigration occurred in London during the 1950s and 1960s. The London economy prompted Chinese from many places to move, while changes in international rice markets prompted some Chinese from the New Territories of Hong Kong to move to London. During the same era, many Chinese moved from Whitehall to Soho. In the 1970s and 1980s many Chinese working in Soho continued to work there but began moving to suburbs. Non-Chinese began replacing the Chinese in Soho in the 1980s. As of the late 1980s Soho remained the centre of the London Chinese community. The Chinese were not involved in the development of the Soho LGBT community.
Demographics
The report London's Population and the 2011 Census: First Report Session 2009-10, Report, Together with Formal Minutes and Oral and Written Evidence stated that among recent migrants from China "many work long hours in the unregulated sector and many are entirely, and consensually, disenfranchised from public life in London." Few of the Chinese migrants had formal leases or ownership of property. At the time, there were low levels of English literacy among the migrants. John Eade, author of Placing London: From Imperial Capital to Global City, wrote that "Chinatown remained one of the most important symbolic centres of community for Chinese across Britain."
The Westminster Chinese Library, based at the Charing Cross Library, holds one of the largest collections of Chinese materials in UK public libraries. It has a collection of over 50,000 Chinese books available for loan and reference to local readers of Chinese; music cassettes, CDs, and video films for loan; community information and general enquiries; a national subscription service of Chinese books; and Chinese events organised from time to time. The library also hosted a photography exhibition in 2013 as part of the British Chinese Heritage project, with photographs and stories of Chinese workers.
The Chinese for Labour Group was formed in 1999 to promote the interests of Chinese people in the :en:Labour Party |Labour Party and improve the quality of life of the Chinese community in Britain. The group is associated to the Labour Party. Its current chair is Sonny Leong, CBE Conservative Friends of the Chinese is the largest political organisation in London. CFOC is chaired by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP and Lord Wei of Shoreditch.
