Americans in China ( Chinese: 在華美國人;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...

: zài huá měiguó rén) are expatriates and immigrants from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

as well as their locally born descendants. Estimates range from 72,000 (excluding Hong Kong and Macau) to

Estimated number in China

In 2005, the number of Americans living in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

reached a historic high of Most expatriates living in China come from neighboring Asian nations. An estimate published in 2018 counted 600,000 people of other nations living in China, with 12% of those from the US; that means approximately 72,000 Americans living in China. Based on data collected in 1999, when 64,602 Americans lived in China, most lived in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

(48,220 in 1999), with smaller numbers in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

(10,000),

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

(3,200),

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

(2,382),

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the provi ...

(555) and

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese provin ...

(800).

Hong Kong

Since the

transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

in 1997, There are more Americans than Britons living in the territory, and 1,100 American companies employ 10% of the Hong Kong workforce.

Mainland China

According to the

Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China The 2010 Chinese census, officially the Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (中華人民共和國第六次全國人口普查), was conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China wi ...

conducted in 2010, there are 71,493 Americans residing in Mainland China, the second largest single group of foreign nationals behind

Koreans Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply r ...

. Americans have been coming to China for job opportunities since 1994. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, a growing number of Americans in their 20s and 30s headed to China for employment, lured by its faster-growing economy and good pay in the financial sector. Many of them teach

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

, a service in demand from Chinese businesspeople and students and a growing number are arriving with skills and experience in computers, finance and other fields.

Institutions

American diplomatic missions in Mainland China: * Embassy of the United States, Beijing * U.S. Consulate General Chengdu (closed) * U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou * U.S. Consulate General Shanghai * U.S. Consulate General Shenyang * U.S. Consulate General Wuhan The Consulate General of the United States, Hong Kong and Macau serves Hong Kong and Macau.

Education

American international schools in Mainland China: *

Beijing Saint Paul American School Saint Paul American School Beijing (SPAS; ) is a defunct private English-language boarding school (''de facto'' education program and part of the Second High School Attached to Beijing Normal University, or SHSBNU) in Haidian District, Beijing, ...

Changchun American International School Changchun American International School (CAIS; ) is an American international school in Changchun, Jilin.Contact
." Changchun America ...

* Concordia International School Shanghai * QSI International School of Chengdu *

Dalian American International School Dalian American International School (DAIS; ) is an American international school in the Golden Pebble Beach National Resort (), in Jinzhou New District, Dalian, China, about east of the center of Dalian. It is owned by the Honor Roll Company.

American International School of Guangzhou The American International School of Guangzhou (AISG, ) is a non-profit, independent, multicultural, and co-educational day school for international students from preschool to grade 12. It is located in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, with an Elem ...

International School of Beijing The International School of Beijing (ISB, ) is a non-profit international coeducational day school in Beijing, China. The school was founded in 1980 and offers a dual English and Chinese language program for students from EY to Grade 12. ...

Shanghai American School Shanghai American School (SAS) is an independent, Non-profit international school located in Shanghai, China. Founded in 1912, SAS has two campuses and over 2,800 students enrolled in Pre-K through 12th grade, making it China's largest internati ...

* Shanghai Livingston American School * Shenzhen American International School * Suzhou North America High School American international schools in Hong Kong: * American International School Hong Kong *

Hong Kong International School Hong Kong International School (HKIS) is an international private school with campuses in Tai Tam and Repulse Bay, Hong Kong. The school was founded in 1966. Today, HKIS spans from reception one to the twelfth grade. Its Lower and Upper Prim ...

Notable people

Solomon Adler Solomon Adler (August 6, 1909 – August 4, 1994) worked as U.S. Treasury representative in China during World War II. Adler was identified by Whittaker Chambers and Elizabeth Bentley as a Soviet spy and resigned from the Treasury Department in 19 ...

- Economist * Ai Hua (Charlotte MacInnis) - Chinese television presenter *

Elijah Coleman Bridgman Elijah Coleman Bridgman (April22, 1801November2, 1861) was the first American Protestant Christian missionary appointed to China. He served with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. One of the first few Protestant missionari ...

- Protestant Christian missionary * Frank Coe - United States government official * Erwin Engst - advisor to the People's Republic to China * Joan Hinton - nuclear physicist *

William H. Hinton William Howard Hinton (; February 2, 1919 – May 15, 2004) was an American Maoist intellectual, best known for his work on Communism in China. A Marxist, he is best known for his book '' Fanshen'', published in 1966, a "documentary of revo ...

- farmer and prolific writer *

Dayyan Eng Dayyan Eng, known as Wu Shixian in China (), born in Taiwan in 1975, is a Chinese-American filmmaker of Chinese, English, and Persian ancestry, who grew up in three continents. He studied film arts at the University of Washington and transferred t ...

- feature film director * Isabel Ingram - tutor of Wan Rong, Empress and wife of the last

Emperor of China ''Huangdi'' (), translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heav ...

Kaiser Kuo Kaiser Kuo (; born March 7, 1966) is a Chinese American freelance writer and musician. Career Kaiser previously worked as director for international communications for Chinese search engine Baidu. Before that he was a technology correspondent fo ...

- Musician and Baidu employee *

Henry Luce Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''Time'', ''Life'', ''Fortune'', and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the America ...

- journalist and businessman * Stephon Marbury - basketball player *

American McGee American James McGee (born December 13, 1972)Birth record for American James McGee - Dallas, Texas, Birth Index, 1903–1997 - Ancestry.com is an American video game designer. He is best known as the designer of '' American McGee's Alice'', it ...

- game designer * Gideon Nye - diplomat, art collector, and merchant * Manya Reiss - Founding member of the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Rev ...

(CPUSA) *

Sidney Rittenberg Sidney Rittenberg (; August 14, 1921 – August 24, 2019) was an American journalist, scholar, and Chinese linguist who lived in China from 1944 to 1980. He worked closely with Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, and other leaders of the Chinese ...

- journalist, interpreter and scholar *

Glenn Duffie Shriver Glenn Duffie Shriver (born November 23, 1981) is an American convicted of conspiracy to spy for China. He was depicted in the FBI-commissioned film '' Game of Pawns''. Biography Shriver was born in Henrico County, Virginia, near Richmond. Whe ...

- Studied in Shanghai, arrested in the United States for attempted espionage, to which he pleaded guilty *

Agnes Smedley Agnes Smedley (February 23, 1892 – May 6, 1950) was an American journalist, writer, and activist who supported the Indian Independence Movement and the Chinese Communist Revolution. Raised in a poverty-stricken miner's family in Missouri and Co ...

- journalist and writer * Edgar Snow - journalist *

Mike Sui Mike Sui () is a comedic actor and host in China who became famous for his "12 Beijingers" viral video released on April 27, 2012. Sui was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan to a Chinese father and American mother, and grew up in Michigan and Beijing. H ...

- comedic actor * Anna Louise Strong - journalist and activist *

John Leighton Stuart John Leighton Stuart (; June 24, 1876 – September 19, 1962) was a missionary educator, the first President of Yenching University and later United States ambassador to China. He was a towering figure in U.S.-Chinese relations in the first half o ...

- First President of Yenching University * Gerald Tannebaum - humanitarian and actor

References

Sources

* {{Americans abroad

China–United States relations Ethnic groups in China