Pál Nyíri

From

Budapest Corvinus University of Budapest - HU

In residence at

CItés, TERritoires, Environnement et Sociétés (CITERES) / CNRS, University of Tours - FR       

Host scientist

Hélène Bertheleu

PROJECT

Chinese lifestyle migration to Europe

Following the coronavirus pandemic, the flight of the Chinese middle class abroad has accelerated, driven by an increasing unwillingness to tolerate shrinking personal freedoms, a slowing economy, and a highly competitive society in which maintenance of a middle-class lifestyle and its transmission to the next generation is uncertain. In the imagination of many middle-class migrants, Europe holds particular attraction as the locus of a slower, more socially and environmentally conscious, more "authentic", and culturally richer lifestyle.
Europe has also been the destination of growing flows of investment from China, but this growth has declined in the 2020s as a result of increasing political scrutiny. In the 2010s, news of Chinese investment in French viniculture made headlines but attracted little research. At the time, news coverage highlighted Chinese investment as a speculative venture that represents a threat to an existing way of life. However, vineyards, particularly in Burgundy and the Loire Valley, are not only an investment but also the epitome of a "European lifestyle" seen as desirable by many in the Chinese middle class. The proposed research aims to understand the motives and effects of Chinese investors in Loire Valley viniculture, particularly those who have actually made the move to France.