Little Beijing, in Bucharest

Fluctuating between 2,000 and 10,000 in number, most of them are situated in Bucharest, where they are part and parcel of day-to-day life for residents of the city’s Colentina quarter and have created a veritable Chinatown in the Voluntari neighbourhood: Chinese businesses in Romania have made the front page of today’s Cotidianul, which devotes a lengthy special report to these immigrant entrepreneurs. “At the end of 2008, 9,432 Chinese and Sino-Romanian companies were registered in Romania, with Chinese investment totalling €230.8 million, according to the Romanian foreign minister,” relates the Romanian daily. Cotidianul adds that business dealings between the two countries increased last year by 38%, putting China in 17th place in the ranking of countries invested in Romania. According toCotidianul, the Chinese have taken a shine to life in Romania because, “unlike other countries in the region, here the people are friendly and welcoming”.