Running a Chinese restaurant is very, very good for you. According to data from the 1991 census, United Kingdom Chinese are a third less likely to suffer illness and almost 50 per cent less likely to suffer from long term illness in comparison to white people.

The report on the data, compiled by Warwick's Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, found that more than 60 per cent of UK Chinese men and more than 50 per cent of women work in "distribution" - which includes restaurants, retailing and wholesaling.

David Owen, author of the report, said: "UK Chinese tend to be in white collar occupations, which partly accounts for why they are so healthy." He added that diet could also be a factor.

A far higher percentage of Chinese men also work in the health service than their white counterparts. Four per cent of Chinese men are health professionals such as doctors and nurses compared with only 0.7 per cent of white men.

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Chinese are more likely to stay in full-time education after the age of 16 than white people, and stay in full-time education for longer than white people.

The bulk of Chinese in this country are in the 20-44 age range, and consequently have a higher age profile than other ethnic groups such as Bangladeshis.

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The 644,700 UK Chinese are widely distributed in the country and represent 1.2 per cent of the British population. A little more than 56,000 live in London and 17,400 in the North West of England. More than 10,000 Chinese people, 6.7 per cent, live in Scotland.

Liverpool Riverside has the largest proportion of Chinese people of any parliamentary constituency, 2 per cent or 1,203 people.