Establishing the National Immigration Administration: Change and Continuity in China’s Immigration Reforms

Abstract

In 2018, the Chinese government established the National Immigration Administration, the country’s first national-level agency dedicated to immigration affairs. Relying on policy analysis and expert interviews, this article examines to what extent the arrival of the NIA and the first years of its operation signal a new state approach to immigration, so far characterised by a narrow focus on exit-entry management and control. While the NIA is normalising a more comprehensive state discourse on immigration, its dependent position within the Chinese bureaucracy and the continued sensitivity of China’s young status as an immigrant destination country hinder more fundamental reforms.