The Hong Kong national rugby union team, nicknamed the Dragons, has made the qualifying rounds of the Rugby World Cup. Rugby union in Hong Kong is administered by the Hong Kong Rugby Union since 1952, and successfully competes annually in the Asia Rugby Championship.
Rugby union in Asia is governed by the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU). As of December 2009 there are 28 ARFU member unions, of whom 15 are full members of World Rugby, and six further associate members of World Rugby in Asia. The flagship tournament for promoting the sport in Asia is the Asian Five Nations, which launched in 2008, and which most recently in 2011 saw the national teams of Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka and the UAE, compete in the main tournament.
Rugby union in China is a growing sport; however, it is still not overly popular. China became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1997 and as of 1 July 2019, its women's XV side was ranked 24th and its men's XV side 80th in the world. Neither the women's team nor the men's team has yet qualified for a Women's Rugby World Cup or a men's Rugby World Cup. However, China has hopes of one day hosting the men's event, and World Rugby has indicated it supports taking the event there.
The South Korea national rugby sevens team is a minor national sevens side. They sometimes take part in the Rugby World Cup Sevens, and have competed in the Hong Kong Sevens since the 1980s.
The Hong Kong Women's Sevens held the first women's international rugby sevens tournament in 1997, and has since become an annual event. The 2020 edition marked the start of a new era for the Hong Kong Women's Sevens. For the first time, the tournament will be an official event in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series. The 2020 and 2021 tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series is the regional championship for women's international rugby sevens in Asia. Initially contested as a single tournament, the championship was expanded into a two-tournament series in 2014. The competition is sanctioned and sponsored by Asia Rugby, which is the rugby union governing body for the region.
The Hong Kong women's sevens rugby union team represents Hong Kong at an international level and plays at the Hong Kong Women's Sevens and other international sevens tournaments.
The Kazakhstan women's national sevens rugby union team is Kazakhstan's representative in Rugby sevens at an international level. They have won the Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series seven times.
The 2015 ARFU Men's Sevens Championships is an Olympic qualification tournament for rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics which was held in Hong Kong on 7–8 November 2015. It was originally planned to use the 2015 Asian Sevens Series for the qualification but as the series clashed with the 2015 Rugby World Cup hosted in England, it was decided to use one qualifying tournament for Asia.
The 2015 Asia Rugby Women's Olympic Qualification Series for rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held over two rounds in Hong Kong and Tokyo from 7–29 November, following a preliminary qualifying round held in Chennai on 7–8 March. Japan won both rounds to gain direct qualification to the 2016 Olympic Sevens women's tournament.
The qualification for the 2020 women's Olympic water polo tournament allocated ten teams quota spots: the hosts, the top team in the World League, the top team in the World Championships, five continental Olympic qualification tournament champions, and the two top teams at an Olympic qualifying tournament.
The People's Republic of China competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the nation's eleventh appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1952. The opening ceremony flag-bearers for China were volleyball player Zhu Ting and taekwondo practitioner Zhao Shuai. Sprinter Su Bingtian, who broke the Asian record of 100 m during the Games, was the flag-bearer for the closing ceremony. The delegation competed in all sports except baseball (softball), handball, and surfing.
Twelve teams qualify for women's rugby sevens at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Japan automatically qualifies as host, with the top four teams of the 2018–19 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series securing their spots. Afterwards, qualification is determined with each of the six continental confederations determining a representative, and the remaining qualification spot determined through an international sevens tournament to be determined.
Hong Kong competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, marking the territory's seventeenth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut as a British colony in 1952. More medals were won at the 2020 Summer Olympics by athletes representing Hong Kong than ever before, and Hong Kong also won its first gold medal since the handover back to China.
The 2019 Dubai Sevens was the first tournament within the 2019–20 World Rugby Sevens Series and was the 20th international edition and the 50th overall of the Dubai Sevens since it began in 1970. It was held on 5–7 December 2019 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The 2019 Asia Rugby Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament is a rugby sevens tournament scheduled to be held in Incheon on the 23–24 November 2019. This tournament serves as the 2020 Olympic Rugby Sevens regional qualifier, the winner of the tournament will collect direct qualification to the 2020 Summer Olympics, whilst the runner-up and third-place finisher will advance to the Olympic repechage tournament.
The qualification process for the 2021 Rugby World Cup began on 9 August 2019 with 12 teams qualifying to the tournament which was to be held in New Zealand. The 2021 Rugby World Cup was postponed by one year in March 2021 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Natasha Shangwe Olson-Thorne is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She represented Hong Kong at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland, it was their first World Cup appearance. She scored Hong Kong's first World Cup try in their match against Wales.
Chong Ka-yan is a Hong Kong rugby union and sevens player. She competed for Hong Kong at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
Chow Mei-nam is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She captained Hong Kong in their 2017 Rugby World Cup debut in Ireland.