The Ha Li of China

The Ha Li of China, numbering approximately 929,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as the largest Li people of Hainan Island whose Ha language serves as the principal lingua franca among Li communities and whose identity reflects a long history of resistance, adaptation, and cultural continuity They are an Indigenous people, with Li as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Li people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Hlai is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Li, Ha

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Li
Primary Language(s): Hlai (lic)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 929,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007259
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Ha Li 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

25%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Hlai
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

90%
%
Hlai Speakers

Media Resources in Hlai:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Hlai:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Hlai 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): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), 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

Next steps for the Ha Li:
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 Ha Li of China

For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!
readPsalm 47:7

Pray for those who live for idols that will never satisfy their hearts, asking that someone will tell them that God is the King of all the earth so that they will turn to Him in repentance and praise.

The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
readPsalm 146:9

Pray for God to watch over people, wherever they are, and cause them to meet believers who will share the gospel with them clearly and lovingly.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
readColossians 4:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be wise in the way they walk with the lost and manage their time and other resources in a way that honors God.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
read1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Pray that God will raise up believers to go to the lost and faithfully proclaim the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection so that all may have an opportunity to access and believe.

Li, Ha Across Countries (ROP3 - 114167) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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.

Scroll to Top