Survey finds 300m China believers

BBC: Survey finds 300m China believers

The number of religious believers in China could be three times higher than official estimates, according to a survey reported by state media.

A poll of 4,500 people by Shanghai university professors found 31.4% of people above the age of 16 considered themselves as religious.

This suggests 300 million people nationwide could be religious, compared to the official figure of 100 million.

China is regularly criticised for cracking down on unauthorised worship.

Believers are only allowed to attend government-approved churches, mosques and temples.

Correspondents say the poll's findings back up suspicions that religion has been enjoying a resurgence in China over the past 20 years, as Communist Party disapproval has eased.

But the party is still ready to deal harshly with any religious group it perceives to be a challenge to its authority - especially the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong, which was not mentioned in the reports. ...

Comments

[brad wright]

There seems to be an inverse relationship between state support and spiritual health of a church.

Any numbers as to how many Chinese Christians?

[Michael W. Kruse]

"There seems to be an inverse relationship between state support and spiritual health of a church."

Interesting how that works.

The article suggests there are 40 million Christians versus an official estimate of 16 million.

People I know from China tell me that Christians are disproportionately among the higher educated (although clearly they are still a small minority.)

[anon]

Michael, years ago my wife and I smuggled bibles into China. Our contact there in Beijing asked us to lead worship in the "state chrch" which was quite an experience. That was 1986 and we were told that the size of the underground church was significant. I'm wondering, with the growth of Internet, are physical bibles still a high priority in China? I wonder if the PROC govt filters virtual bibles?

[Michael W. Kruse]

Anon, I don't know about filters on the internet. When I was in Beijing in 1999 a bible was not that odd. People who have been there more recently tell me that people in major costal cities carry them quite freely. I don't know if that would hold true in many rural areas or inland cities.