Chinese people in Nigeria
[4] The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Zhou Pingjian in 2017 noted the community's numbers were in decline with people returning home and gave the embassy's estimate of 40,000.It grew in scale, and by 2011 Kano trade unionists believed it to be the city's largest private employer, with up to 7,000 employees there and 20,000 nationwide.A scholarly study found corroboration of poor working conditions, with one notorious case being a 2002 fire in a Chinese-owned plastics factory from which 45 workers were unable to escape as they were locked inside by their bosses.However, Chinese companies state that they prefer to recruit and retain local workers as the cost of attracting expatriate talent from China has risen.[10] Vendors therein formerly a wide range of products including textiles, doors, electronics, shoes, bags, books, and films, but by 2011, many vendors had closed shop and returned to China; the range of products on offer had also shrunk, with traders stating that the only profitable businesses were those selling shirts, jeans, or shoes.[8] However most anger in such protests is directed at the employers rather than the Chinese workers themselves; they are perceived to be in a similar situation to Nigerians, forced to take difficult jobs far from home in order to make ends meet, and thus attract sympathy as much as resentment.