Migrant ties and integration – a case of Chinese community in Poland

This work draws on the results of a qualitative study of Chinese migrant community in Poland to analyze the significance of personal ties in the evolving process of mobility and integration. The analysis adopts a transnational perspective to illustrate the functioning of Chinese networks, which increasingly allow individuals to connect elements of migratory experience (be it family or work related) in several different places across Europe and China. At the same time, this work emphasizes analysis of integration from the perspective of individual experience and the way it is written into broader structural factors. Based on the study results, I argue that Chinese in Poland are an example of a distinctive migration dynamic, bringing a large degree of flexibility to integration based on transnational ties, but also as result of cultural and migratory tradition which helps to naturally accommodate change of place and identity. I also show how the Chinese migrant community in Poland is a product of both traditional migratory patterns and the new transnational activity.