Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of ischemic stroke (IS) have been performed on several cohorts of Caucasian or African population and Japanese, resulting in somewhat inconsistent conclusion. We aimed to identify susceptibility loci for IS by exome sequencing in a Chinese Han population. Exome sequencing was used to screen susceptibility loci among 100 cases and 100 matched controls. Significant SNPs from the first stage were verified in up to 3,554 participants from three hospital-based case-control studies. In the initial exome sequencing analysis, rs10489177 in c1orf156 gene located on chromosome 1q24 (p < 1 x 10(-8)) and rs17118 in XYLB gene located on chromosome 3p21 (p < 1 x 10(-6)) were found to be significantly associated with IS. In the following validation stage, significantly increased odds ratios were observed in individuals with rs10489177 GG (OR = 2.02, 95 % CI = 1.35-3.03) or rs17118 AA genotype (OR = 1.50, 95 % CI = 1.17-1.91). The rs10489177 GG genotype was associated with significantly increased risk for IS in individuals without hypertension (OR = 2.78, 95 % CI = 1.59-4.86) and in individuals without diabetes (OR = 1.93, 95 % CI = 1.27-2.94). In contrast, the rs17118 AA genotype may significantly increase the risk for IS, particularly for individuals with hypertension (OR = 1.73, 95 % CI = 1.08-2.78) and for individuals without diabetes (OR = 1.52, 95 % CI = 1.17-1.98) or non-smoker (OR = 1.59, 95 % CI = 1.16-2.19). Collectively, our study identified two novel loci (rs17118 and rs10489177) which were associated with an increased risk for IS in Chinese Han populations. Further studies are needed to confirm these associations in other populations and elucidate the biological mechanisms underlying the observed associations.