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The Dongxiang of China

The Dongxiang of China, numbering approximately 821,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Mongolic people of Gansu, centered in Dongxiang Autonomous County near Linxia, whose origins reflect Yuan-era Central Asian arrivals and admixture with local peoples. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Dongxiang is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Chinese-Hui
Primary Language(s): Dongxiang (sce)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 821,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006729
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Pray for the Dongxiang of China

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dongxiang
Language Family: Mongolic-Khitan

70%
%
Dongxiang Speakers

Media Resources in Dongxiang:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Dongxiang:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Dongxiang bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Dongxiang are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Dongxiang:
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

Pray specifically for the Dongxiang of China

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
readPsalm 57:10

Pray that God will work, even in the hearts of hard-to-reach people, and that they will rejoice in His steadfast love and faithfulness.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
readHebrews 10:23

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will cling tightly to the hope they have in God to faithfully keep His promises.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Dongxiang Across Countries (ROP3 - 114044) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▲
DongxiangPG006729DongxiangChina821,000Engaged yet UnreachedDongxiangSunni Islam

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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