Ｉｍｐｒｅｓｓｉｏｎｓ ｏｆ Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ Ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓｍｅｎ ｏｎ Ｒｅｕｎｉｏｎ Ｉｓｌａｎｄ

In July 160 years ago， some small boats carrying over sixty yellow-skinned and black-haired men struggled to move ahead against the wind and waves on the Indian Ocean near southern Africa. When the Reunion Island covered with reddish volcanic stones came into sight， the men who had already forgotten how many days they had drifted on the sea burst out shouting and jumped for joy. They were the first batch of Chinese sugarcane farmers recruited from faraway Singapore.

In 1846， the second batch of 450 Chinese arrived there. In the following two years， 728 more Chinese arrived. However， due to the cruel treatment by the managers， lack of medicine and rampant crimes on the island， they didn’t want to settle down there and left after having completed their 5-year contracts. It was not until 1862 that after some Chinese from Guangdong arrived at the Island via Madagascar and Mauritius， the Chinese there gradually left the farmland and opened shops which were permitted according to the law. Since then， the industrious and thrifty Chinese brought infinite vitality of business and trade to this small island. On October 15， 1915， the Chinese Chamber of Commerce was founded with the aim of protecting the interests of the overseas Chinese and regulating their business activities. In the following year， after the Chamber successfully registered the statutes of the company and became the first legal organization of the overseas Chinese on the Reunion Island that was approved by the local authorities， it began to play a role in the political， economic and cultural fields on the island. It actively promoted economic and trade cooperation both at home and abroad， developed production， and assisted the government in the struggle against inflation. During the Second World War， when life on the island fell into chaos due to the abrupt cutting-off of material supplies， the Chamber came out boldly and took the lead in the movement of helping oneself， and produced consumer goods of everyday use such as clothes， hats， soap， candy， candles， etc. to tide the residents on the island over. It also raised money to subscribe for bonds issued by the Chinese government and provided whatever support they could offer in China’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Thanks to its excellent work， the Chinese Chamber of Commerce enjoyed increasingly high reputation on the island and won the recognition of the then Nanjing Government. It became a formal member of the Association of Chinese Businessmen， and for quite a long time served as a nonofficial Chinese embassy on Reunion Island.

After Reunion formally became an overseas province of France， the Chinese who had gradually established themselves on the island and still kept the tradition of attaching great importance to education accepted French as their mother tongue. In order to help the Chinese free from cultural marginalization and become doctors， teachers， lawyers， civil servants， architects， etc. who were respected by the society， the Chamber opened many schools on the island. Even after they and their children integrated into the local people’s life， they never forgot their hometown’s Guangdong dialect and Hakka. Everyone had a Chinese name that had a deep meaning and kept their genealogy and the customs of worshipping ancestors and Guan Yunchang (a legendary hero in the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-265)).

With the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the changes of the situation in the 1960s and the 1970s， after consulting with many sides the Chinese Chamber of Commerce decided to change its name and revised its statutes. In 1981 it was renamed as the Reunion Association of Chinese Businessmen (RACB)， its several hundreds of members covering various social circles including merchants， entrepreneurs， professionals， government officials， etc. Among them the outstanding figures were reputed as examples of minority nationalities’ integration into the French society. What deserves mentioning here is Mr. Thien Ah Koon， member of the French National Assembly. Since 1983 he has consecutively served as mayor of Tempong City， and since 1986 been consecutively reelected member of the French National Assembly. He led the Tempong Municipal Government to do many practical things such as improving environment， raising the quality of people’s life and setting up a volcano museum displaying typical geological features of Reunion. He is loved by the local people. The RACB has many such famous figures as its members or close friends. Since China opened wider to the outside world， Reunion has been increasing its contacts with China. Recently a few Reunion businessmen’s delegations came to China to seek opportunities of cooperation， and delegations sent by Tianjin and Guangdong visited the Island. At the invitation of the RACB， the first economic and trade delegation organized by the CPAFFC paid a visit to the island and was accorded cordial meeting by Paul Verges， prefect of Reunion Island and president of the regional Council.

Though the delegation stayed there only for four short days， they were deeply impressed by the vigour and enthusiasm of the RACB. There were numerous touching stories. On this lovely small island， whose flight distance to Paris is almost the same as to Beijing， there are not only active volcanoes and beautiful tropical forests， but also many organizations of Chinese French including the RACB. As the representatives of 30，000 Chinese French， these organizations that have built a bridge linking Asia and Africa are always bright pearls on the Indian Ocean in the eye of their motherland.