SHENZHEN, China-With the blessings of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, the Armenian Community of China celebrated its first Armenian baptism on Chinese soil in recent history on July 9.

Rev. Father Khoren Hovhannisyan, Pastor of Armenians in India flew to China to celebrate this historical event. The historical baptism was held in Shenzhen, in Southern China, with about 40 guests, mostly other Armenians living in the Greater China region.

The baptism was that of Enza and Aaron Sert, children of Harutyun and Liza Sert, a young and successful Armenian couple from France, who moved to China in the last decade and who now own several factories employing hundreds of workers making high end jewelry for European clients. As there are currently no Armenian Churches in China, the Sert family had beautifully transformed their house into an Armenian Church for the occasion.

While relatively unknown to the rest of the Armenian Diaspora, the Armenian community of China, commonly known as ChinaHay, has grown in numbers in recent years with about 200 Armenians now living, working or studying in China, mostly in the coastal cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Over the years, Armenians have gone to China to take advantage of the numerous economic opportunities from all the corners of the globe including France, Australia, Canada, Argentina, U.S., England, Russia, Lebanon, Syria and, of course, Armenia.

These individuals are involved in a broad range of professions from jewelers and traders to fashion designers and lawyers. The ChinaHay community regularly gets together in various parts of China and is expected to grow substantially in the coming years due to China's economic expansion. Anyone interested to learn more about the Armenian community of China is encouraged to visit their website www.chinahay.com or their Facebook ChinaHay group.