The history of Chinese settlement in Vietnam evolved through several stages. The first massive influx came into what is today North Vietnam as long ago as 214 BC; subsequent waves were to follow, brought about by political instabilities or dynastic changes in China. Vietnam had traditionally been a refuge for defeated soldiers and fugitive scholars from China. These early settlers were assimilated through the centuries and no extant ethnic Chinese community in Vietnam could trace its roots directly to those times. Vietnam's rulers had also deliberately crafted state policies to assimilate Chinese immigrants, one significant period being from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. So what remains identifiable as centres of Chinese settlement belongs to more recent history, the second half of the seventeenth century. Then there had been gathering points of Chinese immigrants in the northern and central parts of Vietnam such as Thang Long, Pho Hien, and Hoi An. Those Chinese communities then were engaged mainly in trading and handicraft. However, their trading activities were not maintained and developed in the centuries that followed. Most of them did their seasonal business and after a period of time returned home to China or emigrated to other countries.

But from the late seventeenth century onwards, historical and socioeconomic conditions permitted the beginnings of a Chinese migrant community as a relatively permanent entity within the ethno-demographic and socio-economic structures of Vietnam. There was, first, the large inflow of Chinese immigrants to the southern part of Vietnam. They congregated in distinct areas, being permitted to do so by the ruling Nguyen lords at that time. The relatively large numbers and the longevity of these communities saw the birth of community organizations based on dialect affinity and kinship ties. These were known as bang or clans. Business being a major lifeline of the Chinese, a Chamber of Commerce was also set up together with other kinds of business associations based on trades.