Abstract:

Chinese migration has become a crucial factor influencing Kazakhstan's socio-economic development. Despite the positive official attitude towards migration from China, fears about the threats posed by the expansion of Chinese migration persist in Kazakhstani society. Researchers continuously focus on the conflicting assessments of the demographic, economic, and socio-political consequences of the growing Chinese presence in the country, which occasionally sparks heated socio-political debates.

The article synthesizes results from surveys and social research conducted in Kazakhstan over different years. Based on these findings, the piece analyzes the preconditions, patterns, geographical aspects, and composition of labor migration. It also predicts potential future consequences. During the analysis, theories such as M. Todaro's neoclassical economic theory, Stark & Taylor's new economic theory of migration, Pior's dual labor markets theory, and Palloni's theory of migration networks were considered.

The analysis reveals that widespread claims about Chinese demographic expansion in Kazakhstan lack substantial grounds. However, it highlights that uncontrolled expansion of China's economic presence, especially in strategically important sectors of Kazakhstan's economy, could lead to a rapid and significant increase in the flow of legal migration from China.

Abstract:

The article examines the main results of cooperation between Kazakhstan and China in the field of education from the moment of independence of Kazakhstan to the present. The purpose of the study is to reveal the general characteristics and features of Kazakh-Chinese ties in the field of education and to assess the importance of these ties for the further development of interstate relations between Kazakhstan and China. The scientific novelty of the study is to assess the impact on the nature of Kazakh-Chinese educational ties of the Belt and Road initiative, the Covid-19 pandemic, the decisions of the “China+Central Asia” Summit, as well as the reform of the education system in Kazakhstan and the opening of branches of Chinese universities.

Abstract:

The paper will examine the history of a small community of ethnic Chinese (Han) in Soviet Central Asia, who started settling on this territory during the imperial period, in the end of the XIX c. as laborers and traders. Chinese migrants settled primarily in the Russian Far East and Siberia, which were economically developed regions of Russia. During the WWI, Chinese workers were used by the Russian authorities for the ground works at the European front. The numbers in Chinese in Central Asia were not significant for some reasons, including the later incorporation of this territory into the Russian Empire and its historical and cultural traits as part of the Muslim world, as well as remoteness from China. The colonial policy of the Qing Empire at the turn of the twentieth century was concentrated exclusively in the neighboring province of Xinjiang. The growth of the Chinese population in Russia in the early twentieth century did not affect the Chinese population in Central Asia. According to the 1926 census, there were only 108 Chinese in the Uzbek SSR, while by the end of the Soviet period Chinese population of the republic reached 816 people. Quite similar situation was in Kazakhstan. During the period of Stalin's repressions, the Chinese living in the USSR have been persecuted and in the 1937-1939 were almost completely evicted from the Far East; some of them were relocated to Kazakhstan, through which sent back to Xinjiang. During the repatriation of Soviet citizens from China in 1950-1960, a small number of Chinese entered the territory of the USSR. The study of Han migrants in Soviet Central Asia will be put in the context of Soviet-Chinese relations, which evolved from 'eternal' friendship in the 1950s to the confrontation of the 1960-1980s.

Abstract:

The paper discusses legislative regulation of migration and resettlement of the population from other parts of the Russian Empire and from neighboring China to Semirechye oblast' in the second half of the XIX century - the beginning of the XX century. The comparative analysis of the legislative framework of the imperial resettlement policy of Russia in Semirechye will be based on the study of archival documents, including those from the Central State Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the works of the authors who discussed the migration issues in the imperial period. Resettlement of Russians and other European peasants to Semirechye will be put into the context of the colonization of Central Asian realms of the Russian Empire. Interests of the Russian Empire and international commitments related to the return of the temporarily conquered Ili valley to the Qing Empire in accordance with the St. Petersburg Treaty of 1881, framed the resettlement of the population of the Ili region of China in 1883-1884. The migration of Uyghurs and Dungans to Semirechye from the Ili region will be discussed in the context of migration policy of the Russian Empire. The paper will discuss main stages of resettlement from western China and the European part of Russia to Semirechye, formation and activities of departmental bodies of the Turkestan and later, Steppe General Governorships, government’s measures of accommodation of settlers, relationship between local population and new settlers and other issues related to resettlement and migration policy.