Chinese people in Italy

The community of Chinese people in Italy has grown rapidly in the past ten years. Official statistics indicate there are at least 320,794 Chinese citizens in Italy, although these figures do not account for former Chinese citizens who have acquired Italian nationality or Italian-born people of Chinese descent.[1]

Chinese people in Italy
Total population
320,794 (2018)
0.53% of the Italian population
Regions with significant populations
Lombardy, Tuscany, Veneto
Languages
Wenzhounese · Mandarin Chinese · Italian
Religion
Chinese folk religion, Buddhism, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Overseas Chinese
Chinese Italian
Traditional Chinese意大利華人
Simplified Chinese意大利华人
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese意大利華僑
Simplified Chinese意大利华侨

Demographics

Prato, Tuscany has the largest concentration of Chinese people in Italy and all of Europe. It has the second largest population of Chinese people overall in Italy after Milan.[2]

Religion
Putuoshan Buddhist temple of the Chinese community in via Ferruccio, Esquilino, Rome.

Religion of Chinese in Italy (2010)

  Non religious / secular (39.9%)
  Chinese folk religion (38.4%)
  Buddhism (13.7%)
  Catholic Church (3.6%)
  Protestantism (3.3%)
  Jehovah's Witnesses (1.1%)

In total, approximately one quarter of the Chinese community was classified as belonging to the Chinese (folk) religion.[3] The surveyors weren't able to determine a precise Taoist identity; only 1.1% of the surveyed people identified as such, and the analysts preferred to consider Taoism as an "affluent" of the Chinese religion.[4] The survey found that 39.9% of the Chinese had a thoroughly atheist identity, not believing in any god, nor belonging to any religious organisation, nor practicing any religious activity.[5]

The study also analysed the Chinese Christian community, finding it comprised 8% of the total population (of which 3.6% were Catholics, 3.3% Protestants and 1.1% Jehovah's Witnesses). The Christian community was small, but larger than that of the province of origin, especially for the Catholics and the Jehovah's Witnesses, the latter being an illegal religion in China.[6] Protestants were found to be basically nondenominational and largely (70%) women.[7]

In the years 2011 and 2012 the ISTAT made a survey regarding the religious affiliation among the immigrants in Italy, the religion of the Chinese people in Italy were as follows:[8]

  • Non religious: 44.5%
  • Buddhists: 44.4%
  • Christians: 7.3%
  • Other religions: 3.8%

Religion of Chinese in Italy (2011-2012)[8]

  Non religious (44.5%)
  Buddhism (44.4%)
  Catholic Church (5.0%)
  Other religion (3.8%)
  Protestantism (2.3%)

Community relations

In 2007, several dozen protesters took to the streets in Milan over alleged discrimination.[9] The northern Italian town of Treviso also ordered Chinese-run businesses to take down their lanterns because they looked "too oriental".[10]

Cities with significant Chinese communities
An image showing the "Rome Chinatown". Rome, along with Milan and Prato, contains the most significant Chinese community in Italy.
The Prato Chinatown, which is along with the Milan Chinatown and Rome Chinatown, the biggest and most important in Italy.

Based on Demo ISTAT statistics.

The city of Prato has the second largest Chinese immigrant population in Italy (after Milan with Italy's largest Chinatown). Legal Chinese residents in Prato on 31 December 2008 were 9,927.[11] Local authorities estimate the number of Chinese citizens living in Prato to be around 45,000, illegal immigrants included.[12] Most overseas Chinese come from the city of Wenzhou in the province of Zhejiang, some of them having moved from the Chinatown in Paris.

References
  1. National Institute of Statistics (Italy): I cittadini non comunitari regolarmente soggiornanti Archived November 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  2. Donadio, Rachel (2010-09-12), "Chinese Remake the 'Made in Italy' Fashion Label", The New York Times, retrieved 2011-05-04
  3. Pierluigi Zoccatelli; Religione e religiosità fra i cinesi a Torino. "Religione cinese", identità secolare e presenze di origine cristiana. In: Luigi Berzano, Carlo Genova, Massimo Introvigne, Roberta Ricucci, Pierluigi Zoccatelli; Cinesi a Torino: la crescita di un arcipelago; Il Mulino, 2010. ISBN 9788815137913. pp. 222-223: «L'atteggiamento religioso che classifichiamo qui come "religione cinese" corrisponde a circa un quarto del campione [...]».
  4. Pierluigi Zoccatelli; Religione e religiosità fra i cinesi a Torino. "Religione cinese", identità secolare e presenze di origine cristiana. In: Luigi Berzano, Carlo Genova, Massimo Introvigne, Roberta Ricucci, Pierluigi Zoccatelli; Cinesi a Torino: la crescita di un arcipelago; Il Mulino, 2010. ISBN 9788815137913. p. 223: «Non abbiamo invece trovato ragioni sufficienti per identificare una specifica identità taoista – in effetti, solo tre intervistati si sono dichiarati esplicitamente taoisti –, e preferiamo considerare il taoismo come un affluente della "religione cinese".»
  5. Pierluigi Zoccatelli; Religione e religiosità fra i cinesi a Torino. "Religione cinese", identità secolare e presenze di origine cristiana. In: Luigi Berzano, Carlo Genova, Massimo Introvigne, Roberta Ricucci, Pierluigi Zoccatelli; Cinesi a Torino: la crescita di un arcipelago; Il Mulino, 2010. ISBN 9788815137913. p. 223: «[...] a Torino il 39,9% che congiuntamente si dichiara non religioso, non crede in Dio o in un potere superiore, non crede in una vita dopo la morte, né pratica la divinazione, può essere ascritto a questa identità secolare.»
  6. Pierluigi Zoccatelli; Religione e religiosità fra i cinesi a Torino. "Religione cinese", identità secolare e presenze di origine cristiana. In: Luigi Berzano, Carlo Genova, Massimo Introvigne, Roberta Ricucci, Pierluigi Zoccatelli; Cinesi a Torino: la crescita di un arcipelago; Il Mulino, 2010. ISBN 9788815137913. p. 225: «Ne è emersa una presenza non certamente maggioritaria ma, come vedremo nel paragrafo successivo, forse maggiore rispetto a quella delle regioni cinesi di origine. In particolare, appare maggiore la presenza di cattolici e compaiono i Testimoni di Geova, che nella regione da cui provengono la maggioranza dei cinesi di Torino non possono operare legalmente.»
  7. Pierluigi Zoccatelli; Religione e religiosità fra i cinesi a Torino. "Religione cinese", identità secolare e presenze di origine cristiana. In: Luigi Berzano, Carlo Genova, Massimo Introvigne, Roberta Ricucci, Pierluigi Zoccatelli; Cinesi a Torino: la crescita di un arcipelago; Il Mulino, 2010. ISBN 9788815137913. p. 227
  8. "Appartenenza e pratica religiosa tra i cittadini stranieri". www.istat.it (in Italian). 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2017-10-22.
  9. Willey, David (2007-04-13), "Milan police in Chinatown clash", BBC News, retrieved 2008-04-22
  10. "Oriental decor not allowed", Taipei Times, 2007-05-08, retrieved 2008-04-22
  11. "Prato in cifre: gli stranieri residenti a Prato – suddivisione per cittadinanza" (in Italian). Comune.prato.it. 31 December 2008. Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  12. "Notizie, informazioni della regione Toscana". Intoscana.it. Retrieved 5 April 2011.

Further reading
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