Prototype rebuild by the IMB Innovation Team. The official site is peoplegroups.org.

People group profile · PG007262

The Qi Li of China

The Qi Li of China, numbering about 453,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Li people of central Hainan whose distinct Qi identity is rooted in one of the five major Li branches and shaped by centuries of adaptation to Chinese expansion while preserving their own Hlai language tradition.

They are an indigenous people in the Li people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion, and they primarily speak Hlai.

Pray for the Qi LiPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Qi Li people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Li, Qi

Fast facts

Country
China
Population
453,000
Affinity group
Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
People cluster
Li
Primary language
Hlai (lic)
Primary religion
Ethnoreligion
Strategic Progress Index
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
Less than 2%
GSEC
Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
Lostness priority
Frontier Unreached People Group
Region
Eastern Asia, Asia

Where they live

Gospel status

The Qi Li are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.

  • Congregations exist Yes
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Qi Li

  • Continue prayer and fasting for this group
  • Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
  • Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Primary religion

Ethnoreligion

20% adherents

Primary language

Hlai · Tai-Kadai family

100% speak Hlai

Gospel resources in Hlai

  • Bible available, published 2015
  • JESUS Film available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources not available
  • Bible stories available

Films

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Qi Li

  1. 2 Timothy 2:2. Pray for faithful local leaders who will teach others, so that the church multiplies.
  2. Ephesians 5:8. Pray that those walking in darkness will turn to the light and live as children of light.
  3. Romans 10:14–15. Ask God to send messengers, so that people can hear, believe and call on the name of the Lord.
  4. Matthew 9:37–38. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.

Download a prayer guide

Know something we don't? Submit updates to IMB Global Research.