As a player, he spent the majority of his career playing as a defender for Guangdong football team while internationally he represented China in the 1984 Asian Cup.
After retiring Chi would eventually return to football when he joined Chinese football club playing in the 2005–06 Hong Kong First Division League Dongguan Dongcheng where he was their General Manager for a brief period.
[1] Chi Minghua started his career playing for the Guangdong football team where he started his career in the 1979 Chinese league season and saw his club win the league title.
[2] His performances for Guangdong would soon see him included into the Chinese national team where he would take part in the 1984 AFC Asian Cup and aided China to a runners-up spot to Saudi Arabia in a 2-0 defeat.
[4] By 1994 the Chinese league became completely professional and despite nearing the end of career he carried on playing for the club until the 1997 league season before he moved to second tier club Yunnan Hongta F.C.