Global economy, local landscape: Study on the ethnic economy of Japanese expatriates in Guangzhou City

Since the implementation of reform and opening up policy, with the prosperous economy, more and more overseas immigrants, especially high- skilled expatriates from developed countries, have come to China fighting for their "Chinese Dream", which has exerted a subtle influence on the economy, society, space and landscape of the host city. This paper intends to examine the ethnic economy Japanese expatriates developed, by means of on-the-spot investigation, questionnaire survey, in- depth interview and so on. For one thing, it sheds light on the quantity and size of the ethnic economy. For another, trying to find out its distribution in industry, space and some special industry chains is also an important content of the paper. By some case studies, this paper tries to reveal the economic situation and its influence on foreign immigrants in Chinese cities in the new era. The study shows that, with some complete industry chains, the ethnic economy can be characterized as high-end, wider coverage, self- serving and rooted in local areas. Japanese expatriates in Guangzhou rely extremely on it for their daily needs and they appear to be isolated from the local society. Actually, ethnic economy not only serves Japanese's daily needs, but also has become a tool for Japanese to maintain their identity, which has promoted the growth of expatriate CBD in Guangzhou. These changes have brought about new topics for the internationalization of cities and the managements and services for immigrants.