Note that reserves in fencing, field hockey, football, and handball are counted as athletes: Chinese archers qualified each for the men's and women's events after having secured a top eight finish in their respective team recurves at the 2015 World Archery Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

[21] Meanwhile, one additional boat (men's C-1 1000 m) was awarded to the Chinese squad at the 2015 Asian Canoe Sprint Championships in Palembang, Indonesia, as the unused quota spot had been passed to the highest finisher not yet qualified.

[22] Chinese divers qualified for the following individual spots and synchronized teams at the 2016 Olympic Games by having achieved a top three finish from the 2015 FINA World Championships.

[26] Foil fencer Le Huilin secured a spot on the Chinese team by finishing among the top 14 in the FIE Adjusted Official Rankings, while Jiao Yunlong (men's épée) and Shen Chen (women's sabre), along with Sun Wei (men's sabre) and Le's teammate Liu Yongshi, did the same feat as one of the two highest-ranked fencers coming from the Asian zone.

[27] The fencing team was officially named to the Chinese roster on June 15, 2016, with Lei Sheng aiming to defend the Olympic men's foil title at his third straight Games.

[32] Prior to the tournament, Ren Guixin withdrew injured and was replaced on 18 July 2016 by Li Ying, who was initially selected as an alternate player.

[44] China has qualified a full squad of two gymnasts each in both men's and women's trampoline by virtue of a top eight finish at the 2015 World Championships in Odense, Denmark.

London 2012 silver medalist Cao Zhongrong, fifth-place finalist Chen Qian, and rookies Su Haihang, and Liang Wanxia had claimed their Olympic spots at the 2015 Asia & Oceania Championships.

Four rowing crews had confirmed Olympic places for their boats each in the men's lightweight four, and all small-boat classes for women (except coxless pair) at the 2015 FISA World Championships in Lac d'Aiguebelette, France, while the men's lightweight double sculls rowers had added one boat to the Chinese roster as a result of their gold medal triumph at the 2016 Asia & Oceania Continental Qualification Regatta in Chungju, South Korea.

Two further boats was awarded to the Chinese rowers, who finished among the top four crews each in the women's pair and quadruple sculls at the 2016 European & Final Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.

[51][52] A total of eight sailors, led by two-time Olympian and defending Laser Radial champion Xu Lijia, had been selected to the Chinese Olympic team for Rio 2016, following the completion of the ISAF World Cup meet (April 26 to May 1) in Hyères, France.

The rifle and pistol shooting team was announced on March 31, 2016, featuring Olympic champions Yi Siling, Guo Wenjun, married couple Pang Wei and Du Li, and upcoming four-time Olympians Zhu Qinan and Chen Ying.

[59] A total of 45 swimmers (19 men and 26 women) were officially named to the Chinese roster at the end of the qualifying period on July 3, 2016, featuring double Olympic gold medalists Sun Yang and Ye Shiwen, and freestyle sprinter and 2015 Worlds champion Ning Zetao.

[60][61] China has fielded a squad of nine synchronized swimmers to compete in the women's duet and team events, by virtue of their top national finish for Asia at the 2015 FINA World Championships.

London 2012 champions Ma Long and Li Xiaoxia secured the Olympic spot each in the men's and women's singles as the highest-ranked player coming from the East Asia zone at the Asian Qualification Tournament in Hong Kong.

1 seed Liu Shiwen were each awarded the third spot to build the men's and women's teams for the Games as the top Asian nation, respectively, in the ITTF Olympic Rankings.

[69] Meanwhile, rookies Xu Yifan and Zheng Saisai were added to the Olympic tennis team, as China's top-ranked pair outside of direct qualifying position in the women's doubles.

London 2012 Olympian Bai Faquan and Wang Lianyuan were each selected as the highest-ranked triathlete from Asia in the men's and women's event, respectively, based on the ITU Points List.

China women's water polo team qualified for the Olympics by winning the gold medal and securing a lone outright berth at the Asian Championships in Foshan.

[77] Head coach: Ricardo Azevedo Chinese weightlifters have qualified a maximum of six men's and four women's quota places for the Rio Olympics based on their combined team standing by points at the 2014 and 2015 IWF World Championships.