Chinese, Ethnic

   Ethnic group. While the statistics are highly disputed, there are approximately 500,000 Chinese immigrants living within the Russian Federation, most of whom are in the country illegally. Chinese tend to reside in areas proximate to the Chinese border, namely, Amur Oblast and the krais of Primorsky, Khabarovsk, and Zabaykalsky. The presence of so many Chinese in areas with historic ties to China, when combined with a steady exodus of ethnic Russians from the region, has emerged as a national security issue in contemporary Russia. Most Chinese outside the Russian Far East engage in shuttle trade with Moscow and other parts of western Russia, often employing the Trans-Siberian Railway or other transcontinental routes to move cheap goods to European markets.

   See also Foreign trade.