The number of African expatriates in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, stood at over 16,000 on Oct. 25, 2014, fewer than the number of Asian and European foreigners living in the city, the Guangzhoupublic security bureau revealed recently.

Despite their ubiquitous appearance, African people form only a small part of the major expatriate population in the city, which also consists of 57,000 Asians and 22,000 Europeans.

According to the local public security bureau, Guangzhou is home to 118,000 expatriates. Japanese expatriates compose the largest group, followed by South Koreans and those from the United States. Nigerians form the largest African expatriate group in Guangzhou, ranking 14th among the 20 nationalities with the largest number of expatriates. The second largest African country is Egypt, which is 17th.

The report cleared up some online rumors that African expatriates in Guangzhou had reached 200,000 to 300,000, if not 500,000, the Guangzhou-based New Express Daily reported today.

According to Xie Xiaodan, director of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, the illusion of an overwhelming African population in Guangzhou is probably due to the typical lifestyle of African expatriates, who tend to live together and join frequently in outdoor activities. A number of Africans in Guangzhou may come from neighboring cities and only do business there.

The bureau also revealed that the number of permanent expatriates in Guangzhou has grown for five consecutive years since 2010.