Transnational pathways to integration: Chinese traders in Serbia

This article focuses on the process of integration of Chinese immigrants in
Serbia. It is based on a pilot study conducted among Chinese traders in Belgrade, and
examines the ways in which
this
highly mobile group of people is
becoming incorporated
into the Serbian society. The discussion points to a set of opportunities that Serbia as a
transition society and a non
-
immigrant country offers to Chinese traders who have been
settling in Belgrade an
d Serbia since 1996. It explores multiple and various types of
emerging social interaction embedded in daily life of both Chinese traders and locals, all of
which shape their local integration. It argues that a society such as Serbia provides a space
for c
hoice and active management of risks involved in trading migration enabling Chinese
traders to create a transnational pathway to incorporation. Although their primary aim is
not to ‘settle for good’, but to remain mobile for the better, Chinese traders hav
e established
a wide range of contacts with the local population and have created some important inr
oads
into the Serbian society