Chinese New Zealanders

Chinese New Zealanders

紐西蘭華人 or 纽西兰华人
Total population
231,387 (2019) 132,906 (born in mainland China) 5.3% of New Zealand's population[1]
Regions with significant populations
Auckland	171,309
Canterbury	21,516
Wellington	21,192
Waikato	12,084
Otago	5,439
Manawatū-Whanganui	4,638
Languages
New Zealand English Cantonese Teochew Mandarin Hokkien Hakka Other varieties of Chinese
Religion
Buddhism Taoism Christianity others
Related ethnic groups
Chinese Australians Overseas Chinese

Chinese New Zealanders (Māori: Tāngata Hainamana o Aotearoa; simplified Chinese: 纽西兰华人; traditional Chinese: 紐西蘭華人; pinyin: Niǔxīlán Huárén) or Sino-New Zealanders are New Zealanders of Chinese ancestry. The largest subset of Asian New Zealanders, many of the Chinese immigrants came from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or other countries that have large populations of Chinese diaspora. Today's Chinese New Zealand group is also composed of diasporic communities from Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore.^[2][3] As of 2018, Chinese New Zealanders account for 4.9% of the population of New Zealand, and are the largest Asian ethnic group in New Zealand, accounting for 36.3% of Asian New Zealanders.^[4]

In the 1860s gold rush immigrants from Guangdong arrived.^[5] Due to this historical influx, there is still a distinct Chinese community in Dunedin, whose former^[update] mayor Peter Chin is of Chinese descent. However, most Chinese New Zealanders live in the North Island, and are of more recent migrant heritage.^[6] Chinese people historically faced severe discrimination in New Zealand, through means varying from the head tax to racist violence.^[7][8] In 2002, the New Zealand Government publicly apologised to China for the racism ethnic Chinese were dealt by New Zealand.^[9] Chinese people, culture and cuisine have had a profound impact on modern New Zealand, and are today seen as an inextricable and defining part of the country's rich and diverse culture. Chinese New Year is widely celebrated throughout the country, and although no conventional Chinatowns exist anymore, strongholds of ethnic Chinese exist in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Mandarin is New Zealand's fourth-most-spoken language, while various dialects of Chinese make up the second-most spoken group of languages in New Zealand.^[10] Many famous and innovative New Zealanders are of Chinese ancestry, such as Augusta Xu-Holland, Bic Runga, Boh Runga, Brent Wong, Chris Tse, Manying Ip, Meng Foon, Michelle Ang, Renee Liang, Roseanne Liang, and Rose Lu.