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The Eastern Jiarong of China

The Eastern Jiarong of China, numbering approximately 266,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Sichuan alpine people calling themselves Keru, officially classified under China's Tibetan nationality despite a distinct language, dress, and customs, blending Tibetan Buddhism with Bon temple traditions shared by their Qiang neighbors. They mostly adhere to Tibetan Buddhism and Jiarong is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Jiarong, Eastern

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Tibetan
Primary Language(s): Jiarong (jya)
Primary Religion(s): Tibetan Buddhism
Population: 266,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007213
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Pray for the Eastern Jiarong of China

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Tibetan Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

95%
%
Tibetan Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Jiarong
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

80%
%
Jiarong Speakers

Media Resources in Jiarong:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Jiarong:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Jiarong bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Eastern Jiarong 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 Eastern Jiarong:
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 Eastern Jiarong of China

You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.
readPsalm 65:9

Give thanks for God's provision in nature, and pray that those who don't know Him will recognize His hand, desire to know their Creator, and hear the truth that Jesus is the solution to the world's greatest need.

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, "the kingdom of God has come near to you."
readLuke 10:8-9

Pray that the lost will receive messengers of the gospel with joy, turn from their sins, and be healed.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
readLamentations 3:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through trials, they will be satisfied with the Lord as their portion and will place all their hope in Him.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
readLuke 10:1

Ask God to raise up, send out, and sustain Christians who can go together to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Jiarong, Situ Across Countries (ROP3 - 114123) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Eastern JiarongPG007213Eastern JiarongChina266,000Engaged yet UnreachedJiarongTibetan Buddhism

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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