Haicheng Gong was born on December 28, 1998 in China. The right-handed pitcher is just 18 years old and presents another international signing for the Pirates, just like they have done with Jung Ho Kang, Dovydas Neverauskas, and Rinku Singh. The young pitcher was signed by international scout Roger Chiang.
Gong was a member of the Chinese World Baseball Classic team, and he pitched 1/3 of an inning against team Japan. The website Chinese Bang Qiu, his fastball was 84-87 miles per hour. Gong comes from the MLB Development Center in China, and Pirates Prospects points out that Gong is the second player to sign from the development center.