The Lati of China

The Lati of China, numbering approximately 2,900 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Tai-Kadai people of Yunnan's Maguan County near the Vietnam border, whose ancestors migrated from northern Vietnam's Maibu, Maidu, and Maiha areas during the Qing Dynasty, retaining many Chinese loanwords in their language. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Lachi is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Lati

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Tai
Primary Language(s): Lachi (lbt)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 2,900
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): No Evangelicals, Churches or Resources
People Group ID: PG007249
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Lati of China

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

94%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lachi
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

70%
%
Lachi Speakers

Media Resources in Lachi:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Lachi:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Lachi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): No Evangelicals, Churches or Resources (GSEC: 0), there are no evangelical Christians or churches among this people group and there is no access to evangelical print, audio, visual or human resources

Next steps for the Lati:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Lati of China

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
readPsalm 22:26

Pray that the lost will feel a deep hunger for God, be drawn to Him in their affliction, and find lasting satisfaction and salvation in Him alone.

Moses said, "Please show me your glory." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
readExodus 33:18-19

Pray that many will come to know the glory of God, which is revealed in Jesus Christ, and that they will rejoice in the mercy He offers them.

And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Him and have assurance that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Lachi Across Countries (ROP3 - 114159) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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