Treading on Marco Polo's Footsteps
The presence of Italians in China was historically inaugurated by Marco Polo, the Venetian merchant whose tales about the journey he made to the Celestial Empire first gave Europeans news about Central Asia and the Far East. Seven centuries later, the Italians in China are many and the country is very different, but the motivations pushing people to go there are apparently the same: the willingness to go and live in a country of great opportunity where one can seek fortune, and possibly pursue the American Dream or an Italian Miracle no longer available in one's home country.
According to the latest data of AIRE, the official register of Italians residing abroad, in 2012 the where 7,000 Italians that were stably living in China (up from 1,300 in 2005). Of these, according to a research study by the Migrantes Foundation for 2014, 60% resided in China for reasons of business, and 40% for study and research. The increase in the number of Italians in China is linked to the growing presence of Italian firms in the country. More or less in the same period, the number of Italian firms operating in China climbed from 1,093 in 2007 to 1,577 in 2013. Just like data for expats, these are underestimates. For example, according to ICE, the Italian office for foreign trade, in 2012 (latest data available) there were 499 Italian companies present in Shanghai and East China, but the actual presence was close to double of that figure.
Migrants, yes, but cultivated and integrated
If you look at the profile of Italians living in China, according to data of the Migrantes Foundation, it's clear that most of them are highly educated: 30% of those polled state they know Mandarin either sufficiently well (30%) or extremely well (22%); the majority of them has a college degree; they tend to fill managerial posts in Italian and, increasingly often, Chinese companies (12% of cases).
These data highlight on the one hand how China is becoming ever more integrated in international labor flows for Western professional labor, by offering enticing job opportunities, on the other that the country is highly selective about those it lets in, since they must have a high educational attainment and adequate knowledge of the Chinese language and cultural context. This is the reason why universities worldwide are increasingly focusing on providing higher education programs that satisfy these requirements.
The reason why China is attractive
In Marco Polo's times, China was portrayed as a land of wealth and opportunity. Is it today still so? Yes, although not for everybody.
China's attractiveness is due to its being the second largest economy in the world, to its economic prowess. China is growing and transforming fast, and this makes it attractive to live and work there. It's an energetic nation, animated by adventurous entrepreneurial spirits, but it is also a nation that requires thorough preparation and effort, as Marco Polo well understood in his times.