Despite high growth rates, industrialization and shared Communist regimes, China and Ukraine “discovered” each other not so long ago.
The first entrepreneurs crossed the modern Ukrainian border after the fall of the Soviet Union, carrying bags full of clothes. Setting up their marquees in the street bazaars, they kept a low profile. And it is still hard to find a big Chinese presence.
The Chinese Embassy estimates there are about 20,000 of their people living in Ukraine. Chinese omnipotence, including famous Chinatowns in all major world capitals, have bypassed Ukraine – where it’s still hard to find even authentic Chinese restaurants.
“The Chinese community is young in Ukraine, with many coming over just 15 years ago with very little money,” said Li Xiang, who imports construction machinery from China. “Few of them received citizenship, and they hardly have any influence on Ukraine’s politics.”
Xiang, 41, made Kyiv his home in 1991 after an internship at the Kyiv Polytechnic University. He speaks Russian with harly an accent. He is also a publisher of a Ukraine-China Business biweekly newspaper with a circulation of 3,000 copies that seeks to connect people in both lands.
Chinese businessmen welcome President Viktor Yanukovych during the business forum on Sept. 3 in Beijing that gathered business elites of China and Ukraine. (Ukrinform)
Officially, the bilateral relationship wasn’t much better – until recent hopeful signs emerged.
The 2004 democratic Orange Revolution in Ukraine – in which the nation overturned a rigged presidential election that year — quashed official cooperation, since the authoritarian Chinese takes a dim view of popular uprisings. (See history of Tiananmen Square uprising of 1989.)
But with Viktor Yanukovych elected president on Feb. 7, China has shown renewed interest – hence, bilateral meetings between the Ukrainian leader and Chinese President Hu Jintao, leading to cooperation agreements on economic and other issues.
Li Dongbin, one of the directors at a Chinese telecommunications company in Ukraine, Huawei, welcomes the new momentum. His company grew from five people in 1998 to 300 this year. He now hopes to hire more.
On a personal level, Dongbin, who is 38, said he has many Ukrainian friends and even adopted the Ukrainian habit of weekend gateways to grill some shashlyk. His company also keeps up with traditions, culinary and otherwise. The firm hired Chinese cooks to prepare them meals. With a third of the employees at Huawei hailing from China, they often celebrate Chinese holidays in the office. The latest party was on the occasion of the mid-autumn festival, a holiday when the moon, which signifies reunion, is considered the brightest during the year.
Many of the 8,000 Chinese students in Ukraine also are close-knit, with many residing together in dormitories. Cheaper university fees and greater racial tolerance lure Chinese students to Ukraine, but so does getting a second academic chance for those who find Ukraine’s universities and opportunities better suited for them.
Chinese traders at Barabashovo market in Kharkiv on March 13, 2009. (UNIAN)
This was the case for Chzhan Litsze, a shy 22-year old female studying to become a Chinese-Russian interpreter at Kyiv National Linguistics University.
“My Russian is not good. I want to work in Kyiv for a few years after graduation and then return to China. There are a lot more opportunities for me there,” said Litsze, who almost speaks in a whisper. After four years in Ukraine, she said she didn’t make a single Ukrainian friend.
“We are like this,” explained Seoyan Chzhu, Litsze’s friend, who is also majoring in Russian language. “We are introverts, modest and like to stick together.”
Chzhu is a bit more outgoing than his friend. To improve his Russian, he took the bold step of moving into a dorm with Ukrainian students. “I need to learn the language well so I can come back to China and work with my family that does business with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan [where Russian language is widely spoken],” he said.
But he’s afraid of getting too close. Asked if he liked Ukrainian women, Chzhu said he worried about a lack of understanding in the families if he married one of them.
Publisher Xiang begs to differ. Married to a Ukrainian woman for 13 years, he said patience and knowledge of the Russian language help to strengthen their union.
“We have many differences – from cuisine to how we bring up our children and how we spend weekends,” said Xiang, an agnostic in contrast to his wife’s Christian faith. “But when in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Kateryna Grushenko can be reached at [email protected].
Read also ”Yanukovych touts visit to China as breakthrough‘ by the author.
