The population of Koreans in China include millions of descendants of Korean immigrants with citizenship of the People's Republic of China, as well as smaller groups of South and North Korean expatriates, with a total of roughly 2.3 million people as of 2009^[update], making it the largest ethnic Korean population living outside the Korean Peninsula.

Chaoxianzu (Simplified Chinese: 朝鲜族) or Joseonjok (Korean: 조선족), also referred to as Chinese people of Korean descent (Korean: 조선계 중국인, Hanja: 朝鮮系中國人), form one of the 56 ethnicities officially recognized by the Chinese government. Their total population was estimated at 1,923,842 as of 2005^[update]. Most of them live in Northeast China, especially in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, which had 854,000 ethnic Koreans living there as of 2000.

The Korean people are an ethnic group originating in the Korean peninsula.

South Koreans call Koreans Hanguk-in (한국인; 韓國人)—or simply 한인/Han-in for South Koreans living abroad—or informally Hanguk saram (한국 사람; 韓國 사람), while North Koreans call Koreans Chosŏnin (조선인; 朝鮮人) or Chosŏn saram (조선 사람; 朝鮮 사람). See Names of Korea, Korean romanization, Hangul (한글) and Hanja (한자).

Koreans are believed^{[by whom?]} to be descendants of peoples of Manchuria, often said to be Altaic- or proto-Altaic-speaking tribes, linking them with Mongols, Turkic and Tungusic peoples. Archaeological evidence suggests proto-Koreans were migrants from south-central Siberia, who populated ancient Korea in successive waves from the Neolithic age to the Bronze Age. The same tomb style is an indication telling who lived there. The largest concentration of dolmen in the world is found on the Korean peninsula. In fact, with an estimated 35,000 dolmen Korea counts for nearly 40% of the world’s total. Similar dolmens can be found outside of Korea, in Manchuria, Shandong, and Kyushu. Yet it is unclear why this culture only flourished so extensively on the Korean peninsula in the area of Northeastern Asia.

China (ⁱ/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.

The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.