The munity in Guangzhou （广州）： An.doc

The African munity in Guangzhou (广州): An Emerging Bridge for Africa-China Relations
Adams Bodomo
University of Hong Kong
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Accepted (October 2009) for publication in China Quarterly
Abstract
This paper analyzes an emerging African munity in Guangzhou, China. It is argued that munities such as this one act as linguistic, cultural, and economic bridges between their munities and their munities, even in the midst of tensions created by incidents such as immigration restrictions and irregularities. Socio-linguistic and socio-cultural profiles of munity are built, through questionnaire surveys and interviews, to address issues such as why Africans go to Guangzhou, which African countries are represented, what languages are spoken there, munication takes place between Africans and Chinese, what socio-economic contributions Africans in Guangzhou are making to the Chinese economy
, and how the state reacts to this African presence. Following from the argument that munity acts as a bridge for Africa-China relations it is suggested that both the Chinese and African governments should work towards eliminating the harassment of members in munity by many Guangzhou law enforcement officials and instead harness the contributions of munity to promote Africa-China socio-economic relations.
1. Introduction Acknowledgements to be fully outlined here after article review…
Fifty years after the Bandung conference in April 1955 that may be seen as officially marking the beginning of Afro-Asian relations, we are beginning to see the establishment of munities in Asia, especially in megacities such as Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, and Mumbai.
In China, besides Beijing, munities have e a reality in cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong (Bertoncello and Bredeloup 2007, Bodomo 2007a). There are now more Africans and people of African descent in southern Chinese cities such as Hong Kong, Macau and particularly Guangzhou (Bertoncello and Bredeloup 2007, Bodomo 2007b, Li et al 2