Key Issues of Social Integration of Young Migrants from China in Russia

International migration is a global process in which Russia plays an important role given the great number of international migrants coming into the state. The dissolution of the Soviet Union led to the intensification of migration processes and formation of post- Soviet migration system, in which Russia plays the role of the recipient country. The mass forced migration of Russian-speaking population of the former Soviet republics, which was the repatriation of emigrants from Russia and their descendants, gives way to the mass migration consisting largely of young residents of the Central Asian and Transcaucasian republics. Нowever, in recent years, the number of young migrants from China has increased. International migration is primarily a return migration, however, a significant proportion of labor migrants settle in Russia, staying legally or illegally. The results of a survey conducted among Chinese migrants living in the Far East (Vladivostok and Nakhodka) are discussed in the paper. Illegal status, language problems and discrimination are the main problems that create barriers for the social integration of Chinese migrants in this region. The analysis of cases of young migrants from China in Saint-Petersburg also demonstrates various types of discrimination against migrants and very limited contacts between the Chinese and the local communities. Contemporary migration policy should be aimed not only at the regulation of migration flows but also at the development of effective mechanisms of the integration of international young migrants. Understanding integration in the frame of the absorption concept seems to be the most promising theoretical basis for investigating the issues of integration of Chinese migrants in Russia but, first of all, integration, in our opinion, is connected with overcoming discrimination.