page_title: Chinese community in Paris
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Chinese community in Paris / History
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Tang Frères (陳氏商場 Chénshì Shāng​chǎng) - La plus grande chaîne de magasin asiatique en France&#160;; situé dans le 13e sur l'Avenue de Choisy et près de l'Avenue d'Ivry, où se trouvent beaucoup de magasins et restaurants asiatique&#160;; un vrai quartier asiatique où la nostalgie se soulage. English: Tang Frères ("Tang Brothers" - 陳氏商場 Chénshì Shāng​chǎng) - The largest Asian market in France: Located on Avenue de Choisy, near Avenue d'Ivry. The surrounding area has many Asian restaurants and shops. 中文（繁體）‎: 法國規模最大的華人/亞洲連鎖超商「陳氏商場」 (Tang Frères)；位處於大大小小的亞洲餐廳和雜貨店林立的13區Avenue d'Ivry、Avenue de Choisy 一帶，是一解鄉愁的好幫手. 中文（简体）‎: 法国规模最大的华人/亚洲连锁超商「陈氏商场」 (Tang Frères)；位处于大大小小的亚洲餐厅和杂货店林立的13区Avenue d'Ivry、Avenue de Choisy 一带，是一解乡愁的好帮手.
context_page_description: As of 1990, the majority of Asians living in the Paris area are ethnic Chinese originating from several countries. The largest group includes ethnic Chinese from Indochina, and a smaller group originates from Zhejiang.
context_section_description: During World War I, the French brought workers from Zhejiang to work in the war efforts. When the war ended, several thousand remained, most of whom originated from Qingtian, while most of the imported Chinese workers went back to China. These Chinese worked as stall-holders in fairgrounds.
  In the 1920s, there was a community of Chinese students living in Paris. Many of them had become political activists. Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping lived in a flat near Place d'Italie. In 1921, they published Youth, a Chinese-language newspaper, from this flat.
  A group of Chinese from Wenzhou, Zhejiang settled Paris in the 1930s. According to the 1936 Census, slightly more than 2,000 Chinese lived in Paris.
  As of the 1930s the Chinese population included employees of French companies, including workers in leather shops and factories such as those owned by Renault. Other Chinese included artisans and tradespeople. After World War II additional Chinese from Zhejiang arrived. During that period many Chinese became leather goods wholesaler dealers and manufacturers.
  Michelle Guillon, author of "The Chinese and Chinese Districts in Paris", wrote that "before 1975" the Chinese in Paris "were not perceived as immigrants but rather as a little group that added a touch of exoticism to the capital, thanks to their restaurants in the Latin Quarter."
  Immigrants from Cambodia and Vietnam had arrived in Paris since the colonial era but had arrived in the largest numbers post-1975. Guillon wrote that there was a likelihood of "many members of the Chinese minorities (Cantonese and Teochew) among these refugees" and that these refugees had been persecuted in Laos and Vietnam in the 1970s, but "it is impossible to work out any count on the criteria of legal nationality" since they had stayed in Laos and Vietnam and had taken Laotian and Vietnamese nationalities many years prior.
  The French dispersed refugees so they would not join communities where foreigners were already settled, and the government set up many shelter and lodging centres in central and western France. However the ethnic Chinese from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam banded together after leaving the shelter and lodging centres and settled in Paris. Later groups of ethnic Chinese Indochinese immediately went to Paris after arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
  Ethnic Chinese Indochinese families living in provincial French cities felt isolation. They moved to Paris as ethnic Chinese companies opened there. In the 1980s, additional Chinese from Zhejiang arrived.
  In 1998, Guillon wrote that the Chinese now were "a constituent part of the Parisian population."
  In 2011, several muggings assaults on ethnic Chinese occurred in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, causing ethnic Chinese to hold demonstrations against violence. David Chazan of the BBC wrote that they are perceived as being prosperous and therefore are targeted.
  In 2016, protests staged by ethnic Chinese occurred after several Chinese in Aubervilliers were attacked. The Franco-Chinese Friendship Association stated that from November 2015 to August 2016 over 100 ethnic Chinese in Aubervilliers had been robbed. 49-year old Chaoling Zhang (张朝林 Zhāng Cháolín), beaten in a robbery, died on August 16, 2016.
caption: Tang Frères (陳氏商場 Chénshì Shāngchǎng) supermarket in the 13th arrondissement of Paris
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