The Qiangyi of China

The Qiangyi of China, numbering approximately 17,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a people of China They are an Indigenous people, with Qiang as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Tibetan people cluster of the Tibetan Peoples. They mostly adhere to Chinese Folk Religion and Southern Qiang is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Tibetan
Primary Language(s): Southern Qiang (qxs)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 17,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022107
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Qiangyi 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: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

95%
%
Chinese Folk Religion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Southern Qiang
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

70%
%
Qiang, Southern Speakers

Media Resources in Southern Qiang:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Southern Qiang:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Southern Qiang bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Qiangyi 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 Qiangyi:
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 Qiangyi of China

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or?rulers?or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
readColossians 1:16

Pray for those who are lost among them, that they will come to know the One who created all things and holds all things together.

O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
readPsalm 104:24

Pray that they will see the wisdom and power of God in His creation and praise Him for His mighty works.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
readPhilippians 3:20-21

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember their citizenship is in heaven.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

Pray that God will raise up believers who can share the gospel with people who don't know the good news of Jesus, that God is light and in him, there is no darkness at all.

Qiangyi Across Countries (ROP3 - 114296) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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