Latest data from the American Community Survey, 2013 and the Survey of Business Owners, 2012 allow us to paint a statistical portrait of Americans of Chinese origin.

There were 3.6 million Chinese Americans living in the United States, the largest group among all Asian Americans. Together they had an aggregate income of $122 billion, illustrating a powerful consumer and tax base in America. In a relative sense this aggregate income is bigger than the GDP of Morocco the 61st largest economy in the world and larger than the economy of Cuba.

The average family size was 3.37. The median age is 38 years. 57 percent were married and around 5 percent divorced. 53 percent had educational qualifications of a Bachelor’s degree or higher. Around 70 percent are foreign born, 60 percent of the foreign born are US citizens. Of the foreign born 60 percent came to the country before 2000. Around 11 percent of households live in poverty. Unemployment rate was 4.1 percent. 54 percent were in occupations in management, business, science and arts. Median household income was $67,000. 62 percent owned their own homes with a median home value of $425,000. Of those who rented homes or apartments the median rent was $1068 a month. Chinese Americans tend to be better off than the average American on a number of economic indicators.

There were 25 states with over 20,000 Chinese Americans living in those states. The top 10 states were: California, New York, Texas, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Washington, Pennsylvania, Florida and Maryland.

There were about half a million businesses owned by Chinese Americans with sales of $252 billion. These firms employed around a million people with an annual payroll of $34 billion. During the tough economic period 2007 – 2012, the number of Chinese American owned firms grew by 26 percent, sales by 77 percent, employment by 37 percent and payroll by 66 percent. Overall the number of firms in the United States grew by 2 percent, sales by 12 percent and employment declined by 2 percent. The largest sectors were professional, scientific and technical services, accommodation and food services, real estate, retail trade and health care and social assistance.

In 2013 Chinese Americans were 1 percent of the total population of the United States but 2 percent of the total businesses in the country. So we can see from these numbers what a powerful engine of economic growth these firms are to the American economy.

China was the United States 3rd largest export market ($123 billion) and the largest market for imports ($466 billion) in 2014. During the period 2010-14, exports to China grew by 45 percent and imports by 28 percent.

Pew Research helps provide some insights into civic and social life of Chinese Americans through their surveys of Americans. 51 percent of the surveyed were not affiliated with any religion, 31 percent are Christian. 35 percent of the Chinese American newly-weds married non-Asian or other Asians. Chinese American voters tend to lean towards the Democratic Party. 84 percent were satisfied with their life. Chinese Americans were more likely than other Asian American groups to report discrimination as a problem. A new report from Ascend,Hidden in Plain Sight documented under-representation of Asian Americans in top management of some of the most widely recognized technology companies.

Recent research by Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou received a lot of attention as they showed mechanisms that Chinese American parents use to overcome racial barriers and help students achieve success by choosing occupations with lower barriers to success, neighborhoods with better schools, setting high academic expectations for the children and providing tutoring and other resources for the children.

The above snapshot of Chinese Americans show a community playing an integral role in America, actively pursuing the American Dream. They certainly face challenges along the way but as recent research show, they work hard to overcome these challenges.

Dr. Zhang Xiuping is Vice Dean of the Department of Management at Minzu University, Beijing. Dr. Bruce Corrie is an economist and Associate Vice President at Concordia University-St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.