page_title: Chinese in Samoa
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Chinese in Samoa / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Archives New Zealand Reference: AGCA 6051 SAMOA-GCA Box 72/ 442; Contracts for Chinese Indentured Labour, Sāmoa 1903
context_page_description: The majority of Chinese nationals currently residing in Samoa are businessmen, labour workers and shopowners in the south western island nation of Samoa, and there are at least 30,000 people in Samoa who are of mixed Samoan and Chinese descent, although they are classified as ethnic Samoans in official census. Around the world, about 25% of all Samoans claim Chinese ancestry. Nearly all Chinese nationals in Samoa reside within the Apia municipal area; neighbouring American Samoa, also has a small population of Chinese expatriates.
  The Chinese community in Samoa is growing and becoming economically strong. A new wave of northern Chinese migrants are moving to Samoa, bringing their culture and languages with them. There are no Chinese schools in Samoa but an estimated 98.7% of Chinese expatriates and migrants send their children and youth to Robert Louis Stevenson School, Samoa which is a private school with an Australasian and Samoan curriculum. There is a primary campus located in the village of Lotopa, Faleata District and the secondary campus in the urban village of Tafaigata.
context_section_description: Historical records of Chinese settlement dates back to at least the 1870s. Two Chinese sailors under the command of Bully Hayes were based there for two years, and one of them settled down in 1876 and married a Samoan wife. A few Chinese traders also settled in Samoa and raised local families, and maintained close ties with Samoa's paramount chief, Malietoa Laupepa. In 1880, Malietoa issued a subsequent ban on people of Chinese descent from settling in Samoa. Four years after Western Samoa came under German rule in 1899, the colonial governor Wilhelm Solf lifted Malietoa's ban and shipped in Chinese labourers from 1903 onwards. Chinese coolies reportedly complained of tough working punishments as well as brutal physical punishments which they had to face, and these reports prompted the provincial governor of Canton to stop sending Chinese coolies to the German colonies.
  Chinese immigrants were almost entirely men, and most of the labourers took Samoan women as wives and by 1918 offspring of Chinese-Samoan descent were a visible minority, although smaller in terms of population compared to offspring of European (particularly German) and Samoan descent. This eventually led to a ban in 1931 that prohibited Chinese men from interacting with Samoan women on all grounds. By the end of World War II only 295 Chinese remained, all of whom had either taken Samoan wives or were unmarried. Many Chinese coolies had since returned to China or remained in Samoa with their families.
  In 1994, China provided financial assistance to fund the construction of the government office building in Apia. More recently the Chinese government has funded various other Samoan government constructions. Aeau Peniamina, deputy leader of Samoa Democratic United Party, caused a minor controversy in January 2005 when he remarked that "there are too many Chinese in the country". Joe Keil, the Minister of Tourism, who is of part-Chinese descent, promptly rebutted Peniamina's remarks.
  Chinese-Samoans are well represented in the civil service, and China established diplomatic relations with Samoa in November 1975. Chinese-Samoans are especially well represented in the retail, import-export, and restaurant sectors, notably in Apia.
  Samoa's legislative capital city, Apia, signed a treaty on 31 August 2015 with a delegation from Shenzhen, China, making Apia and Shenzhen, Guangdong, China sister cities. The treaty will help promote Chinese tourism to boost Samoa's growing tourism industry, bring economic growth to Samoa, and encourage stronger ties between the two cities. Shenzhen Airlines is also set to operate flights from 
  Shenzhen International Airport and Faleolo International Airport in Apia.
caption: An example of a contract for Chinese indentured labour used in Samoa c.1903.
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