Results of China’s 2020 census were released this week, and while the overall population of non-Chinese across the country has increased, the population of expats in Beijing, specifically, has declined sharply.

Here are a few facts we uncovered when crunching the numbers:

• This census was conducted in December 2020, long after COVID-19 resulted in an exodus of foreigners, many of whom have decided not to come back, while others are still awaiting a chance to return. As such, we’re likely to see increased numbers once borders begin re-opening.
• Despite declines in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, China’s foreign population at large has grown by 40% over the past 10 years, from a little over 1 million in 2010 to 1.4 million now. However, almost 80% of that is in Yunnan alone, whose foreign population has exploded from a mere 47,396 to 379,281. Most of these people are likely migrating from bordering nations Vietnam and Myanmar.
• We’re staying longer these days. Back in 2010, only 25% of China’s foreigners had lived here for more than five years. Conversely, as of last year, 42% had. Likewise, the percentage of foreigners who have lived here longer than two years rose from 49% in 2010 to 64% now.
• There are now more foreign females (52%) than males (48%), which may seem hard to believe in cities like Beijing. However, this data is likely skewed by the number of women from bordering countries such as Vietnam and Myanmar who marry local Chinese men and settle in southern regions.
• There’s a tendency for English-speaking first-tier city expats to correlate “foreign” with “non-Asian,” but that is not typically the case, nor has it ever been. Foreigners from primarily Asian nations tend to make up the largest foreign communities in China, and that’s not including a large number of Asian folks coming from places like the US, Australia, Canada, and Europe. Though data from 2020 has not been released, the 2010 census showed more than a quarter of all foreigners in China came from one of four regional nations – South Korea, Japan, Myanmar, and Vietnam – which are also four of the top five countries of origin for foreigners in China (rounding out the top five was the US).
• Of the top ten, Beijing has seen the steepest dive in expats – losing 42% of its foreign population in 10 years – dropping from 107,445 to 62,812. Whereas 10% of all of China’s foreigners lived in Beijing in 2010, we now represent only 4% of the expat population. Shanghai has seen a decline over that period as well, dropping 21% from 208,602 to 163,954. However, as of 2020, Shanghai still had 2.6 times the number of foreigners as Beijing.
• Nationwide, we’re still a drop in the bucket. At 1.4 million, collectively, we still represent only one-tenth of one percent of the population of China.
• Comprehensive city-by-city data remains incomplete. Details of only the top ten regions were provided, and eight of those are the total population of provinces, not cities. City-level data was not available for any cities except Shanghai and Beijing.

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