Tech Industry

In the United States, Chinese Americans have consistently been a major part of the tech industry, being responsible for numerous incredible innovations. 

In Redmond specifically, Chinese Americans have also made uncountable contributions to the tech industry whether in the form of the countless employees working in Redmond’s tech industry or the hundreds of small startups filling each small niche in the industry. While not explicitly Chinese American, Microsoft has had such a large impact on Redmond’s tech, even in this regard.

Constructed in 1985, Microsoft moved their headquarters to Redmond, making Redmond the center of one of the largest and most powerful tech corporations in the world. This placed Redmond on the map as a center of tech innovation, and Redmond thrived thanks to the influx of workers, immigrants, including countless startups and entrepreneurs. This in of it itself is enough reason to explain why so many 

Besides this, Microsoft has also been one of the largest participants in the H1B VISA program, bringing tens of thousands of foreign workers into the US over the past 13 years. They began in 2011 with 630 employees, peaking in 2022 with 9903 employees, according to h1bdata.org. While not all of these workers were from China, a large part of them were. 

However, even before 2011, Redmond, being a center of innovation like the Silicon Valley, has brought in countless workers in search of job opportunities in a better life. One of these people are the founders of ML Optics, a local company we interviewed for this project. 

MLOptics is a leading company in the exponentially growing AR/VR industry. While originally based in Nanjing, China, they created a subbranch in Redmond in 2019 to service customers in the states. However the subbranch has become more legally distinct due to poor international relations. They came to Redmond mainly to service the major tech companies in Redmond and Bellevue such as Meta or Microsoft. In an interview, Lucas Wang MLOptics’ Software Leader and Office Manager said that “Redmond 相当于是一个行业的中心”, meaning Redmond was basically the center of the industry. This is another example of Redmond’s status as a technological hotspot. MLOptics’ major service is in metrology: taking extremely precise measurements using light as well as the sale of metrology instruments. This is a highly valuable niche with some lenses pricing at hundreds of thousands of dollars. AR/VR technology has also aided in many other industries such as autonomous driving which requires advanced optical lenses and components. Deemed a “Global Optical Metrology leader in the AR/VR Industry” by CIOReview in 2023, MLOptics and its diverse workers have made undeniable contributions to the growth of the AR/VR industries and beyond.

We also interviewed CHIME Band members and Microsoft employees Ping Fan and Hongyu about their experiences. When asked about the contributions of Chinese people in Redmond, they were at a loss for words: there was simply too much to talk about, citing the massive presence of Chinese workers in the industry as well as the countless high ranking executives in many of the largest tech companies. An example of this is Microsoft which, in their 2024 Global Diversity and Inclusion Report, reported a staggering 35.9% Asian representation, 25.8% of which identified as east asian (Chinese, Japanese, or Korean). While the report does not delve deeper, this shows that Chinese people have had a large presence in Microsoft. According to csrwindo.com, Meta has an even larger Asian presence at 48.7%. Furthermore, in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commision (EEOC)’s High Tech, Low Inclusion: Diversity in the High Tech Workforce and Sector (2014 - 2022), they found that as of 2022, Asians made up 18.1% of the high tech workforce.

Chinese people have always made vast contributions to technology, and no where is that more apparent than in Redmond. When we asked the MLOptics representative why he thought that so many Chinese people decided to come to Redmond, he said that “大家都是为了追求自己的目标或者goals” translating to everyone is trying to chase their own goals. 

However this is not always so easy. In the late 20th century China was still recovering from the state of poverty beginning in 1979 with the opening of China. However, this was a gradual process meaning that many of the older Chinese immigrants population likely grew up in this environment. According to the World Bank Group, in 2000, China had a mere GDP per capita of 969.2 USD compared to the United States’ GDP per capita of 36,330 USD, just over a quarter. For any of these workers to come to the States, either to study as an international student, coming through a work visa, or simply immigrating was an incredibly difficult process only possible for the most hardworking people in China at the time. In addition, it was only through the hard work and support of their families’ and communities to fund their travels and education. 

Note: The CHIME organization is a major part of the Chinese community in Redmond. While it is within Microsoft, it has no other connection to Technology.

CHIME, which stands for Chinese Microsoft Employee Network, is one of the ERG’s (Employee Resource Group) founded under Microsoft. Officially founded in 1992, CHIME has become one of the greater Seattle area’s largest and most well known organizations in the Chinese community, well known for their numerous events and community impact. In fact, CHIME’s goal is just that: to increase Microsoft’s impact in the local Chinese community, as well as bringing more Chinese culture to Microsoft in the process. 

Accordingly, CHIME has constantly hosted numerous community events. Perhaps the most well known and most historically significant is CHIME’s Mid-Summer Festival Celebration which has been held annually without pause since CHIME’s inception. The Mid-Summer Festival (中秋节), most oftenly held around the end of September, is one of China’s most important holidays in which Chinese people traditionally come together and celebrate the story of Chang’e (嫦娥), so CHIME’s annual celebration gives the community a great place to come together and have fun. 

Another one of CHIME’s larger events is the annual CHIME Spring Festival Gala in celebration of China’s biggest holiday, Chinese New Year (春节) which has been held consecutively since 2001. Just like with the Mid-Summer Festival, these Galas are a very popular and fun place to connect with the Chinese community. These events are very large as well with approximately three thousand people in the last Spring Festival Gala including performers, technicians, attendants, and volunteers. 

In fact, many of CHIME’s events are very large scale, featuring hundreds or thousands of people coming together in celebration. These events feature fun games with prizes, tons of food trucks and stalls, as well as other activities creating a festive atmosphere. In addition, many of these celebrations include afternoon and evening performances, making it a fun way to celebrate these holidays. These events have earned CHIME a good reputation among the community: if they host an event, many people will know that there’s a good time to be had there. 

While talking about CHIME’s events, current Chair of CHIME Zinan Zhang said that “every time I enter that scene, I immediately feel, wow, it’s Chinese New Year” (我每次进入到那个场面里面我瞬间的能感受到，哦，这是过年了). In fact, this is an important part of any community: to have a place where they can celebrate their traditions that may not be as recognized in the States. 

In addition to these two major celebrations, CHIME also hosts numerous other popular events with varying sizes. In the year 2025, they have hosted events such as:

• Technical Seminars regard recent topics such as artificial intelligence.

• 好声音, a music competition with 110+ initial competitors, giving them, most of whom are were not professional musicians, a stage to perform. 

• Sports events, including a badminton competition with ~100 participants

• A Music Festival specifically for shedding a light on local Chinese bands

• A League of Legends (Video game) competition in collaboration with Amazon’s own ERG.

All extremely well managed and entertaining, these events provide a gathering space from the Chinese Community. After all, “it’s very rare to see so many Chinese people get together, ” said Zhang.

While looking at this impressive list of accomplishments, it comes to no surprise that there are hundreds of hours of preparation behind each event. For example, preparations for most events begin between 3-6 months in advance. Shockingly, for CHIME organizers, all of this work is in addition to a full time job as a Microsoft employee. “Even at twelve or one O’clock at night … everyone keeps working” (我们每天晚上半夜十二点一点。。。大家还在不断地工作), said Zhang. Needless to say, many of these people are putting in their own time, sweat, and resources to create these events. In face of such a task, many would be justified in turning it down, but many CHIME members welcome it with passion and vigor. When talking about his motivations, Zhang simply said, “We think through these events … we can make this area a better place” (我觉得我们做这些事情 … 能让这个社区变得更好的). Being a CHIME event organizer is a very difficult role but these people happily work behind the scenes, they are proud of the wonderful events they host and the community they’ve helped create.