---
title: "Is There Professional Xiangqi? · Xiangqi Master"
description: "Yes — China runs a professional national league with salaried players, and international events exist. Prize money is far below chess."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/is-there-professional-xiangqi
updated: 2026-09-22
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# Is there professional xiangqi?

These answers restate the rules implemented by our open-source engine, which follows the WXF laws and is regression-tested against the official 110-diagram repetition casebook. Where an answer refers to a specific position, that position lives on the linked reference page, where the build verifies it against the engine before publishing.

> Direct answer
>
> **Yes.** China runs a professional national league with salaried players and a full competitive calendar, and the World Xiangqi Federation organises international championships. Vietnam has strong national competition too. The **money is far below chess**, and outside China and Vietnam the professional scene is thin.

## Titles and ratings

National federations award titles and maintain rating lists. Chinese grandmaster titles are the most competitive, reflecting the size and strength of the domestic pool. Titles are not interchangeable between federations.

## Where to watch

Major Chinese league matches and international championships are broadcast and archived online. Watching annotated master games is one of the better uses of study time once you have a stable opening repertoire.

## Related questions

Can you make a living at it?

A small number of players in China can. Almost nobody elsewhere.

Are there women's events?

Yes, both national and international, in the same structure as the open events.

## Related xiangqi resources

History of xiangqi

When the game was invented, and what is actually documented

Xiangqi questions answered

Every question on this site, in one index

Play xiangqi

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## Try it on a real board

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