 As in their former countries, ethnic Chinese from Indochina are heavily involved in commerce, especially among the generation of immigrants, and average income levels are above the national median.Teochew is the most frequently spoken Chinese variety among this community, with Cantonese also prevalent and used as a common commercial and community language due to its status as a historical "lingua franca" among Chinese in Indochina.Additionally, knowledge of Vietnamese is common among the generation of refugees, who largely originated from the former South Vietnam, while Lao and Khmer are conversant among the smaller number of refugees originating from Laos and Cambodia respectively.