The Han Chinese of Laos

The Han Chinese of Laos, numbering approximately 36,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Han Chinese ethnolinguistic group of southern China's Pearl River Delta who speak Cantonese and share a regional heritage shaped by Lingnan culture, maritime trade, and extensive overseas migration. They mostly adhere to Chinese Folk Religion and Yue Chinese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: Laos
People Cluster: Chinese
Primary Language(s): Yue Chinese (yue)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 36,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009111
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Han Chinese of Laos

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: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

95%
%
Chinese Folk Religion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Yue Chinese
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Chinese, Yue Speakers

Media Resources in Yue Chinese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Yue Chinese:

4 entries

Or check out the Yue Chinese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Han Chinese are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Han Chinese:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Han Chinese of Laos

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
read1 John 4:10

Pray for those without the hope of Christ to understand the depth of God's love and the sacrifice He made for them.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
readMatthew 13: 45-46

Pray that they will recognize the treasure of knowing Christ Jesus and be willing to give up everything else to gain Him.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
read2 Thessalonians 3:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere according to God's command, walk in faith, and be strong so that they can resist the evil one’s deception.

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.

Han Chinese, Cantonese Across Countries (ROP3 - 103701) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

25 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▲LanguageReligion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Belgium9,500No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseAtheism
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)China64,770,000No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han ChineseHan ChineseLaos36,500No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Mauritius8,400No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han ChineseHan ChineseReunion31,500No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Zimbabwe1,600No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Dominican Republic12,000No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Guyana3,300No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Haiti550No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han ChineseHan ChineseCuracao1,100No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han ChineseHan ChineseTrinidad and Tobago44,500No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Venezuela30,000No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Peru118,000No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Singapore512,000No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Honduras7,800No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han ChineseHan ChinesePanama69,500No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseAtheism
Han ChineseHan ChineseBrunei7,900No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Ecuador9,700No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseAtheism
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)United States1,030,000No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseAtheism
Han ChineseHan ChineseUnited Kingdom197,000No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Vietnam789,000No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Malaysia1,935,000No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Canada573,000No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Macao668,000No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion
Han Chinese (Cantonese)Han Chinese (Cantonese)Hong Kong6,245,000No Longer UnreachedYue ChineseChinese Folk Religion

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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