Chinese people in Italy

Origin The origin of Chinese immigration to Italy dates back to the late-19th century, who came from the older Chinese communities of Paris, Amsterdam, and other major European trading ports as seamen and traders. As the nation's most important economic and industrial center, Milan was the primary destination for the Chinese immigrating to Italy. The provenance of Chinese migrants in Italy is marked for its exclusive geographical extent, with the majority of them hailing from Qingtian and surrounding counties of Wenzhou in southern Zhejiang, a region known for its highly mountainous terrain, and tradition of emigration and overseas trade due to its lack of arable lands. When they first arrived in the city, they initially settled in what is now the Porta Ticinese quarter, at the time the most impoverished and illicit area of Milan, but also offered some of the cheapest license for vending in the whole of European continent, allowing the community to gain a foothold by supporting themselves through street vending. A report published in ''L' Osservatore Romano'' on 4–5 August 1941 noted that forty of the internees underwent baptism in the camp's church, following missionary work by a Chinese clergyman identified as Pastor Chang. The internment ended in late 1943 when local anti-Fascist partisans took control of the area and freed those held at the camp. Post-War and Present ==Demographics==

Prato, Tuscany has the largest concentration of Chinese people in Italy and all of Europe. It has the second largest population of Chinese people overall in Italy after Milan. Religion '' Buddhist temple of the Chinese community in via Ferruccio, Esquilino, Rome. In total, approximately one quarter of the Chinese community was classified as belonging to the Chinese (folk) religion. The surveyors weren't able to determine a precise Taoist identity; only 1.1% of the surveyed people identified as such, and the analysts preferred to consider Taoism as an "affluent" of the Chinese religion. The survey found that 39.9% of the Chinese had a thoroughly atheist identity, not believing in any god, nor belonging to any religious organisation, nor practicing any religious activity. The study also analysed the Chinese Christian community, finding it comprised 8% of the total population (of which 3.6% were Catholics, 3.3% Protestants and 1.1% Jehovah's Witnesses). The Christian community was small, but larger than that of the province of origin, especially for the Catholics and the Jehovah's Witnesses, the latter being an illegal religion in China. Protestants were found to be basically nondenominational and largely (70%) women. In the years 2011 and 2012 the ISTAT made a survey regarding the religious affiliation among the immigrants in Italy, the religion of the Chinese people in Italy were as follows: • Non religious: 44.5% • Buddhists: 44.4% • Christians: 7.3% • Other religions: 3.8% ==Community relations==

In 2007, several dozen protesters took to the streets in Milan over alleged discrimination. The northern Italian town of Treviso also ordered Chinese-run businesses to take down their lanterns because they looked "too oriental". ==Cities with significant Chinese communities==

and Rome Chinatown, the biggest and most important in Italy. Based on Demo ISTAT statistics. • Milan 18,918 (1.43% on total resident population) • Rome 12,013 • Prato 11,882 (6.32%) • Turin 5,437 • Florence 3,890 (1.05%) • Campi Bisenzio 3,018 (6.87%) • Reggio Emilia 2,925 (1.72%) • Bologna 2,654 • Naples 2,456 • Brescia 2,394 (1.23%) • Venice 2,163 • Empoli 1,759 (3.67%) • Genoa 1,637 • Forlì 1,607 (1.36%) • Padua 1,571 • Fucecchio 1,502 (6.39%) The city of Prato has the second largest Chinese immigrant population in Italy (after Milan with Italy's largest Chinatown). Legal Chinese residents in Prato on 31 December 2008 were 9,927. Local authorities estimate the number of Chinese citizens living in Prato to be around 45,000, illegal immigrants included. The majority of Chinese living in Italy are from the city of Wenzhou in the province of Zhejiang, some of them having moved from the Chinatown in Paris. In 2021, there were 33,871 (2,466%) Chinese in Milan and 33,649 (16,764%) in Prato. ==Notable people==