There are approximately 50 million ethnic Chinese people living outside of China’s mainland, which itself is home to nearly 1.4 billion Chinese. Ethnic Chinese people comprise 3.7% of the world’s population beyond China’s borders. Most of these consumers read, write and speak Chinese.

Densely populated Chinese communities outside of China, oftentimes referred to as “Chinatowns,” are a good way of demonstrating the size of the global Chinese consumer base.

Using fully-Chinese domain names, such as Dot Chinese Online (.在线) and Dot Chinese Website (.中文网), is a powerful and inexpensive method of reaching this vast demographic group of consumers.

Chinese language domain names can be an exceptionally powerful and cost-effective way of promoting your product, service or message in Chinese language communities. Chinese language domain names are culturally relevant, linguistically correct, and commercially attractive. They can substantially enhance your SEO and positively influence an audience of global consumers.

In the current “expansion of the internet” new gTLD program, in which several thousand new top-level domains (TLDs) are coming on line, the world’s biggest-selling* non-English new gTLD domain names are in Dot Chinese Online (.在线) and Dot Chinese Website (.中文网).

Click to download a high-resolution PDF of TLD Registry's Where do Chinese people live" Infographic.

Chinatowns in North America

New York City contains the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, totaling 682,265 individuals, per the 2010 United States Census. There are at least nine different Chinatown communities in New York State alone.

The Chinatown in San Francisco, California, is the oldest Chinatown in North America and also one of the largest Chinese communities outside of Asia. Two other cities in California have significant Chinese populations: Los Angeles with more than 66,782 ethnic Chinese and San Jose with 63,434 ethnic Chinese.

Chicago’s Chinatown is on the Windy City’s South Side and is home to more than 70,000 Chinese people. Honolulu is home to more than 40,000 Chinese, and its Chinatown Historic District is one of the oldest Chinatowns in the United States.

Canada contains two important Chinatowns: Vancouver and Toronto. Vancouver’s Chinatown is the largest in Canada. It is a popular tourist attraction and one of the largest historic Chinatowns on the continent. There are approximately 400,000 ethnic Chinese in the city, comprising 17% of the Vancouver Metropolitan Area’s population.

Approximately 279,000 ethnic Chinese live in Toronto, comprising 10.8% of the total population. Toronto’s Chinatown is now one of the largest Chinatowns in North America and one of several major Chinese-Canadian communities in the Greater Toronto Area.

Chinatowns in Asia

The largest Chinatown in Asia is in Yokohama Japan, just south of Tokyo, which is one of the largest Chinatowns in the world. There are approximately 675,000 ethnic Chinese currently living in Japan.

The Binondo district in Manila, the Philippines, is the oldest Chinatown in the world. There are over 1.1 million ethnic Chinese living in the Philippines today.

At night, Bangkok, Thailand’s Chinatown resembles 1960s Hong Kong. It's been this way for some 200 years, since the capital’s Chinese community moved here from the spot where the Grand Palace is now located. There are more than 9.3 million ethnic Chinese living in Thailand.

In Singapore, three out of every four people are ethnic Chinese, totaling more than 4 million of the island’s 5.5 million people.

Indonesia is home to over 8.8 million ethnic Chinese. It is considered the biggest Chinatown in Indonesia, as a majority of local traders are of Chinese descent. There are 6.69 million ethnic Chinese in Malaysia.

Chinatowns in Australia

Sydney's Chinatown is an urban locality in the southern part of the Sydney central business district and is Australia's largest Chinatown. There are 350,000 ethnic Chinese in Sydney, comprising 7.9% of the city’s population.

Melbourne's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in Australia, the oldest continuous Chinese settlement in Australia, and the longest continuously running Chinatown outside of Asia. There are 260,000 ethnic Chinese in Melbourne, comprising 6.5% of the city’s population.

Chinatowns in Europe

London, UK Chinatown is located in the busy center of London, attracting 300,000 people for the Lunar New Year celebrations. Chinatown in Manchester, England is the second largest Chinatown in the United Kingdom and the third largest in Europe. There are approximately 13,600 ethnic Chinese living in Manchester, although this number is said to double when including the large number of Chinese students who attend the local universities.

The Chinatown in Liverpool, England is home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe. According to a 2011 estimate by the UK census, 1.7% of Liverpool's population is of full Chinese descent (nearly 8,000 people), which makes ethnic Chinese the city's single largest non-White ethnic group.

Paris, France has several Chinatowns, the largest being located in the 13th arrondissement (13th district). Parisian Chinatown represents a massive implantation of Asian communities. "Avenue de Choisy" and Avenue d'Ivry" down to the "Porte d'Ivry" (Gate of Ivry) and the immediate surrounding suburbs (Le Kremlin-Bicêtre) are its principal axis. It is populated by nearly 50,000 Chinese, Vietnamese and Laotian nationals.

Chinatown in Africa

South Africa is home to the largest ethnic Chinese community on the continent. Most of the 350,000 ethnic Chinese in South Africa live in the country's largest city, Johannesburg.

Globally relevant

The Chinese consumer base is global and relevant to your business. Every one of these Chinatowns have not only become vibrant Chinese enclaves, but have impacted the communities, the cities, and the world around them. It’s time to take note. Take the first step to grow your business worldwide: invest in Chinese domain names.

*According to namestat.org’s report on “Biggest Selling Internationalized Domain Names” 26 September 2014

Scroll to the bottom to download a high-resolution pdf

Click to download a high-resolution PDF of TLD Registry's "Where do Chinese people live?" infographic.

Click to download a high-resolution PDF of TLD Registry's "Where do Chinese people live?" infographic.

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