Origins Chinese people began to settle in the land that makes up the modern state of Mozambique as early as the 1870s, when
Portuguese influence in East Africa was growing stronger. Portuguese colonialists recruited Chinese carpenters and unskilled labourers in
Macao, then also part of the
Portuguese Empire, as well as the neighboring
Siyi region of
Guangdong, for work on railway construction. Some may not have been voluntary migrants, but criminals sentenced to
penal transportation rather than jail. In 1893, the Chinese community in Lourenço Marques (modern-day
Maputo) numbered 52 people. One of the more famous of the early migrants was Ja Assam (谢三), a carpenter and architect who funded the construction of Maputo's first Chinese pagoda. Over time, Chinese people became skilled workers that were useful for the
Portuguese colonial project in Mozambique. Specifically, they were often provided labor that was similar to that which could be provided by Portuguese settlers. As few white Portuguese were encouraged to move to Mozambique, and as native Mozambicans did not possess the desired technical skills, Chinese, Indian, and
Mulatto migrants provided much of the needed technical labor. They were often paid as much as white Portuguese for this labor, an amount that was significantly greater than that which was paid to native Mozambicans. Migration of all Asians was officially halted in 1899 due to an outbreak of
plague, blamed on Indians; even after the relaxation of the restriction in 1907, Asians who sought to migrate to the colony had to pay a disembarkation fee of 3,000
reals at their port of arrival. Nevertheless, Chinese population continued to grow, to 287 by 1903. These initial ethnic Chinese in Mozambique were known as "good Portuguese" within the colonial Portuguese structure on account of their useful skills, their links to anti-communist
Chinese Nationalism, and their deep roots in Mozambique by the 1950s (when many of the original immigrants' children were becoming economically productive members of Mozambican society). The acceptance of ethnic Chinese into Portuguese colonial society during this time epitomized itself in the narrativization and laudation by local newspapers of various cultural and economic activities by ethnic Chinese. In 1961, during the beginning of the
Angolan War of Independence, ethnic Chinese expressed their solidarity with the Portuguese colonial system by collecting funds to support the repression of rebel groups in Angola. By the early 1970s, the eve of independence, there were 5,000 Chinese in Mozambique, with 2,000 in Lourenço Marques and another 3,000 in
Beira.
Mozambique’s struggle for national independence from
colonialism and
imperialism as well as the
FRELIMO party were both supported by
the People's Republic of China during the 1960s-70s, and the Chinese government was the first to recognize Mozambique as state, recognizing it on its Independence day, June 25, 1975.
Post-independence After
Mozambique achieved independence in 1975, the Chinese found their business assets and even the buildings held by the Chinese community associations expropriated by the new Communist government, leading many to consider leaving the country. On July 2, 1975,
the People's Republic of China and
Mozambique signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement, encompassing a wide range of areas including political-diplomatic, socio-economic, and cultural matters. On that same day, China also inaugurated its diplomatic embassy in Maputo. Many emigrated to Portugal. Their arrival preceded that of the main wave of Chinese migration there, consisting of mainland Chinese laborers; the Chinese from Mozambique tended to have far better labor market outcomes in Portugal, due to both their fluent command of Portuguese, and their higher level of education. They commonly found employment as bank tellers, engineers, doctors, and other professionals. Others went to
Macau, which remained a
Portuguese colony. By the end of the war in 1992, the community had shrunk to a mere several hundred. The descendants of the old Chinese settlers continued to leave the country even with the onset of peace; by 2006, barely twenty families totaling perhaps a hundred people remained in Maputo, while in Beira just two people remained. However, they were replaced by new expatriates from
the People's Republic of China, who came to the country as part of the increasing Sino-African economic cooperation. Many of the ethnic Chinese that come to Mozambique to establish small businesses come due to a high availability of jobs in Mozambique for ethnic Chinese (there is high demand particularly for
Chinese fashion) and due to the better working environment (specifically as regards the pollution of Chinese cities and the lack of safety in many Chinese jobs). Many
send extra money made back home to their families in China. Most of these ethnic Chinese never fully immigrate to Mozambique and become permanent residents on account of a complicated and expensive immigration process which is done in Portuguese and on account of a lack of real benefit to permanently migrating. Many send extra money made back home to families in China. ==Present-Day Relations with Locals==