Chinese New Zealanders or Sino-New Zealanders are New Zealanders of Chinese ancestry. The largest subset of Asian New Zealanders, many of the Chinese immigrants came from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or other countries that have large populations of Chinese diaspora. Today's Chinese New Zealand group is also composed of diasporic communities from Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore. As of 2018, Chinese New Zealanders account for 4.9% of the population of New Zealand, and are the largest Asian ethnic group in New Zealand, accounting for 36.3% of Asian New Zealanders.
During the 1860s Otago gold rush, immigrants from Guangdong arrived. Due to this historical influx, there is still a distinct Chinese community in Dunedin, whose mayor Peter Chin is of Chinese descent. However, most Chinese New Zealanders live in the North Island, and are of more recent migrant heritage. Chinese people historically faced severe discrimination in New Zealand, through means varying from the head tax to racist violence. In 2002, the New Zealand Government publicly apologised to China for the racism ethnic Chinese were dealt by New Zealand. Chinese people, culture and cuisine have had a profound impact on modern New Zealand, and are today seen as an inextricable and defining part of the country's rich and diverse culture. Chinese New Year is widely celebrated throughout the country, and although no conventional Chinatowns exist anymore, strongholds of ethnic Chinese exist in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Mandarin is New Zealand's fourth-most-spoken language, while various dialects of Chinese make up the second-most spoken group of languages in New Zealand. Many famous and innovative New Zealanders are of Chinese ancestry, such as Augusta Xu-Holland, Bic Runga, Boh Runga, Brent Wong, Chris Tse, Manying Ip, Meng Foon, Michelle Ang, Renee Liang, Roseanne Liang, and Rose Lu.
Demographics According to the 2023 New Zealand census, there were 279,039 ethnic Chinese in New Zealand, making up 5.6% of New Zealand's population. This is an increase of 31,269 people (12.6%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 107,628 people (62.8%) since the 2013 census.
There were 131,688 males, 146,580 females, and 783 people of another gender. The median age was 36.2 years, compared with 38.1 years for all New Zealanders; 55,677 people (20.0%) were aged under 15 years, 52,828 (19.0%) were 15 to 29, 136,179 (48.8%) were 30 to 64, and 34,308 (12.3%) were 65 or older.
In terms of population distribution, 69.7% of Chinese New Zealanders lived in the Auckland region, 18.3% lived in the North Island outside the Auckland region, and 12.0% lived in the South Island. The Howick local board area of Auckland has the highest concentration of Chinese people at 27.1%, followed by the Upper Harbour local board area (26.6%) and the Puketāpapa local board area (16.7%). Wellington City had the highest concentration of Chinese people outside of Auckland at 6.7%. Great Barrier Island had the lowest concentration of Chinese people at 0.2%.
The proportion of Chinese New Zealanders born overseas at the 2018 census was 73.3%, compared with 27.1% for all ethnicities. Over half (58.3%) of those born in New Zealand were aged under 15. The majority of Chinese New Zealanders were from Mainland China, Taiwan made up a third of all immigrants and ten percent came from Malaysia. The remainder of Chinese immigrants to New Zealand came from Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Language English is by far the most widely spoken language among the usually resident Asian population in New Zealand. Nonetheless, the next most common language after English in New Zealand was Yue or Cantonese (16 percent of Asian people with a language) and Northern Chinese/Mandarin (12 percent). Other Chinese languages spoken in Aotearoa New Zealand include Hokkien, Hakka, and Teochew. Some Chinese New Zealanders also adhere to speaking Malay and Indonesian due to a small influx of Chinese immigrants from Southeast Asia.
The New Zealand Chinese Journals (1920–1972) database contains over 16,000 digitised pages from three Chinese-language publications:
Man Sing Times (1921–1922) New Zealand Chinese Weekly News (1937–1946) New Zealand Chinese Growers Monthly Journal (1949 –1972)
Religion Religion % Buddhist 5.9% Christian (not further defined) 5.9% Catholic 3.6% No religion 70.3% Object to answering 4.7% Source: 2018 Census
History
Early immigrants (1865–1945) Appo Hocton (Chinese name: 王鶴庭) was the first recorded Chinese emigrant to New Zealand, arriving in Nelson on 25 October 1842. The first significant immigration to New Zealand took place on the strength of two invitations from New Zealand's Otago goldmining region to potential goldminers from Guangdong in 1865. These original goldmining communities suffered discrimination due to racist ideology, the economic competition they represented to the Europeans, and because of the implied 'disloyalty' within their transient, sojourner outlook. While many believe there was a 'White New Zealand' policy similar to Australia's, New Zealand never had such a policy openly sanctioned and was open to Pacific Island immigration from its early history. However, in the 1880s, openly sinophobic political ideology, resulted in the New Zealand head tax, also known as the 'Poll Tax', aimed specifically at Chinese migrants. Racist violence towards Chinese people in New Zealand followed, such as the murder of Joe Kum Yung by white supremacist Lionel Terry. This attack occurred in Haining Street in Te Aro, Wellington, on 24 September 1905, in the centre of what was once was a large Chinatown. Despite official barriers, the Chinese still managed to develop their communities in this period, and numbers were bolstered when some wives and children from Guangdong Province were allowed in as refugees just before World War II.
Significant archives of Chinese communities in Otago were created by Presbyterian reverend Alexander Don in the late 19th century, in his mostly unsuccessful attempts to convert Chinese goldmining communities to Christianity. These archives, which form a part of the Ng New Zealand Chinese Heritage Collection, became a UNESCO New Zealand Memory of the World Register in 2017.
New Zealanders of Chinese descent also fought for New Zealand in World War II. During World War I, Cecil Alloo rose from the ranks to become the first commissioned officer of Chinese descent in New Zealand's armed forces. Chain migration from Guangdong continued until the new Communist Chinese regime stopped emigration. This original group of Cantonese migrants and their descendants are referred to in New Zealand as 'Old Generation' Chinese, and are now a minority within the overall Chinese population.
John Hall's government passed the Chinese Immigration Act 1881. This imposed a £10 tax per Chinese person entering New Zealand, and permitted only one Chinese immigrant for every 10 tons of cargo. Richard Seddon's government increased the tax to £100 per head in 1896, and tightened the other restriction to only one Chinese immigrant for every 200 tons of cargo.
After the Second World War (1945–1999)
Ethnic Chinese communities from countries other than China began establishing themselves in New Zealand between the 1960s and 1980s. These included ethnic Chinese refugees from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos following the conflicts and upheavals in those countries; Commonwealth (i.e. English educated) professional migrants from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia; and Samoan Chinese as part of the substantial Pacific labour migrations of the 1970s. There was also a growth in the relationship between mainland China and New Zealand during this period. Relationships were fostered by Chinese New Zealanders such as Nancy Kwok-Goddard.
Between 1987 and 1996, a fundamental change in New Zealand's immigration policy led to a substantial influx of ethnic Chinese business, investor, and professional migrants, particularly from Hong Kong and Taiwan. This period saw a spike in overall migration from the Asian region, including other Chinese people from East Asia and Southeast Asia. New Zealand's immigration system increasingly experienced the impact of global events, such as the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and the May 1998 riots of Indonesia in which many Chinese were affected.
Since 2000 and later discrimination Chinese New Zealanders by the turn of the 21st century had become a more established and integral part of New Zealand society, with new waves of immigrants arriving from the 1970s and 1980s onwards integrating into the existing legacy of Chinese who had been in the country since the mid-nineteenth century. Chinese New Zealanders, alongside other Asian New Zealanders, are now more embraced as a part of the country's cosmopolitan heritage and continue to shape the culture and economy of New Zealand; this has become most notable in Auckland, wherein New Zealanders of all backgrounds enjoy the material aspects of Asian popular and traditional culture as normalised parts of everyday life; with the likes of Bubble Tea, Anime, and K-Pop having become mainstream parts of youth and urban culture.
Chinese in New Zealand today make up one of the country's wealthiest and most highly educated ethnic communities. They also make up a significant proportion of business owners and workers within the country's private economy, a privileged status which has at times added to historic prejudices played into by demagogic groups.
An increasing number of Chinese New Zealanders since the early 2000s have taken on key positions in government and various political institutions, with the 2020 General Election seeing New Zealand Parliament's share of Asian members rise to an all-time high.
Newer Chinese immigrant arrivals are generally well-educated professionals or businesspeople with internationally transferable skills. Many have chosen to come because they want to raise their children in a less competitive educational environment, or because they want a more leisurely lifestyle and new employment opportunities. In 2002, the New Zealand Government publicly apologised to Chinese New Zealanders for the poll tax that had been levied on their ancestors a century ago.
In 2010, Mainland China for the first time became New Zealand's top source country for family immigration through the Family Sponsored Stream and the Partnership policy in New Zealand, as large numbers of Chinese nationals choose to study abroad in New Zealand and then gain the recognised qualifications to obtain skilled employment in New Zealand.
In the New Zealand's 2018 national census, Asian New Zealanders reached 15.5% of the country's total population an increase from 11.8% in 2013, with Chinese New Zealanders making up 36% of all peoples of Asian heritage.
During the worldwide spike in sinophobia during the COVID-19 pandemic, MP Raymond Huo was among many politicians who condemned the racial abuse suffered by the country's Chinese community. An online petition to prevent people from China from entering the country was signed by more than 18,000 people. In Canterbury, an email was sent to a Chinese-origin student's parent, which reportedly said, "our Kiwi kids don't want to be in the same class with your disgusting virus spreaders."
Mayor of Auckland Phil Goff said he was "sickened" by the reports of Asian-origin people being racially targeted at swimming pools, public transport and restaurants. In February 2021, the Chinese consulate in Auckland was affected by a phony bomb threat made by individuals on an events website Aucklife that they had hacked. Their motive was reportedly a punitive response against China for allegedly causing the pandemic.
Politics