Follow UK Investment Immigration and UK Immigration news: Just one week before David Cameron's trade visit to China, the Office for National Statistics confirmed that Chinese citizens have become the largest group of immigrants to the UK, with 40,000 Chinese entering the UK in 2012, compared to 29,000 in 2010.
China's rise to the top of the immigration numbers is partly due to a sharp decline in the number of Indian immigrants, primarily because of a significant decrease in the number of Indian students coming to the UK. While the number of immigrants from India was 60,000 and 65,000 in 2011 and 2010 respectively, this year, following the tightening of student visas and the UK Home Office's declaration to reduce non-EU immigration, this number has dropped to 37,000.
Recent statistics indicate that the number of visas issued to Indian students has decreased by 24%.
China's new leading position in immigration numbers indicates a certain level of success for the UK government, which has been working to strengthen ties with China. However, critics urge government officials not to cultivate new diplomatic relations at the expense of traditional friendly relations.
Mark Hilton, immigration policy director of the business lobbying group London First, stated that there is a "worrying decline" in markets like India. Hilton remarked: "While we must strive to engage with new markets like China, it would be very detrimental if we neglect the still much larger traditional markets."
