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. The push to depart was sharpened by the 1977 onset of the Mozambican Civil War. Many emigrated to Portugal. Their arrival preceded that of the main wave of Chinese migration there, consisting of mainland Chinese labourers; the Chinese from Mozambique tended to have far better labour 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 totalling 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.