This paper focuses on the growing yet comparatively underexplored pattern of South-South migration. While major studies engage in broader discussions of poverty and development, this research takes a nuanced approach by situating South-South migration as specific contact zones that facilitate spatial and temporal co-presence of individuals from the Global South, specifically navigating the unique encounters and practices of African migrants in China. It reveals that African migrants constantly encounter misunderstandings, regulations, prejudice, and marginalization in China, interwoven with local and global forces like Sino-African historical relations, local migration governance, racialized attitudes, and global dynamics, highlighting the tension between macro South-South solidarity discourses and micro exclusionary realities of South-South migration. In such contexts, migrants employ multiple grassroots strategies to bridge these gaps and navigate South-South encounters. As such, it offers a new perspective and a nuanced understanding of the unique encounters, experiences, and agency in South-South migration contexts.
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