270 book reviews

Xia Fengzhen <互动视野下的海外新移民研究：以浙江侨乡发展为例> Hudong shiye xia de haiwai xinyimin yanjiu: yi Zhejiang qiaoxiang fazhan weili (New Chinese Migrants from Zhejiang and the Development of Qiaoxiang: An Interactive Perspective). : Zhongyang bianyi chubanshe, 2013. Pp. 299.

More than one million Chinese citizens have left their home villages in south- ern Zhejiang and emigrated overseas since 1978, a new migration trend that has caught the attention of migration scholars around the world. A number of studies on the new migrants from southern Zhejiang were thus produced over the past decade. Unfortunately, almost all of them were authored by European scholars and published in Europe. Finally, we have an excellent study on the topic authored by a local Chinese scholar based in , implying that the Chinese academics, particularly those based in regions where migration takes place, have joined the forum. They are well prepared to communicate with their Western colleagues, which is indeed a remarkable achievement. Xia Fengzhen is a female scholar and this is her second book on the new migrants from Zhejiang. Her first book, entitled Illegal Migrants from Southern Zhejiang, was published in 2008. In her second book, Xia moves away from her previous research and shifts her attention from illegal migrants to regular migrants from Zhejiang as a whole, focusing on their interactions with their homeland. The book consists of seven chapters. Chapter One is basically an introduction, which includes a methodology and literature review. In Chapter Two, the author analyzes current emigration from Zhejiang, discussing their numbers, distributions around the world, migration channels, migration patterns, as well as a number of characteristics exhibited in these emigra- tion waves. An interesting observation was revealed between the new types of migrant in Zhejiang nowadays and the current ’s economic reform. Luoguan migrant is a case in point. Luoguan or “naked official” is a Chinese term that was introduced to the Chinese society recently. It refers to senior government officials who have made arrangements for their children and wives to emigrate overseas, remitting dirty money collected from bribery to foreign countries, while they continue to hold senior positions in the govern- ment. When suspected or under investigation by the authorities, these offi- cials would immediately flee from China with passports and visas prepared in advance, to join their families overseas (p. 64). In Chapter Three, the author probes into the internal and external factors contributing to the rise of new emigration form in Zhejiang over the past three decades and predicts the possible migration trends in the region. The author foresees that a huge quantity of funds would inevitably be sent overseas in the

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���4 | doi 10.1163/17932548-12341286 book reviews 271 near future due to the growing scale of emigration. New rich emigration, over- seas students migration, the so-called luoguan migration and luoshang (naked businessmen who cheated state banks and fled with bank loans) migration could be major contributors of such phenomenon. Chapter Four is a detailed study on the Zhejiang Qiaoxiang or homeland of Overseas Chinese from Zhejiang. Comprehensive statistics collected from local authorities are provided. The author points out that a number of new Qiaoxiang such as Hangzhou and Yiwu have recently emerged in the province with the growth and rapid development of new emigration waves. Chapter Five examines the interactions between new migrants and their homeland in Zhejiang. Following a general description of the economic activi- ties conducted by the Zhejiang migrants in different parts of the world, the author gives readers an insightful and detailed fieldwork report on the new Zhejiang migrants in Paris, which is important as far as the Zhejiang migrants are concerned. It mentions, for instance, there were around 300,000 Zhejiang migrants in Paris by the end of 2011, and most of them were from and Qingtian. 85 percent of these migrants were new migrants. Their occupations included catering (in Chinese restaurants and Japanese restaurants), working in costume and jewelry wholesale, cigarette shops, supermarkets and other rel- evant economic activities within the Chinese migrant community. It is inter- esting to note the increasing number of new Zhejiang migrants investing in the sector of cigarette shops or Café-Tabc in French. 700 out of more than 3000 cigarette shops found in the great Paris were purchased by new migrants from Zhejiang. These new migrants usually did not have enough funds to buy up the cigarette shops from their French owners and they normally would not apply for loans from local French banks. Instead, they would pool money together and raise funds from a rotary financial society within their migrant community. After which, only one person would sign the contract with the French owner and register with the government authorities though in reality the sharehold- ers of one shop could be a dozen or more than twenty (pp. 131-133). In addition, overseas remittances and investments from new migrants and their impact on local economy and society are also discussed. Chapter Six explores transnational migration and its impact on the social mobility and occupational structure of local society. The author points out that the farmers of southern Zhejiang have become the backbone of new migrants. As a result, the number of farmers at home has decreased dramatically since 1996. Meanwhile, a large number of people from other provinces of China have moved into Zhejiang to work in private enterprises and factories funded by the Zhejiang migrants and their relatives, resulting in further changes to the local demographical landscape.

Journal of Chinese Overseas 10 (2014) 263-278