70 Million: The Approximate Number of Practicing Christians in China Today

There are approximately 70 million practicing Christians in China today, accounting for 5 percent of the population. Not a huge fraction of China’s 1.3 billion citizens you might say but proselytisation is on the rise and some estimates decree that China will be home to the world’s largest Christian population by 2025, overtaking America’s 240 million (where, in contrast, Christians now account for 70 percent of the population compared to 86 percent in 1990).

Subscription to such ideologies presents a complex problem for the Chinese government, which is officially atheist, and sees religion as something to be monitored, controlled, and counterintuitive to their own staunch political agenda. However, as varying beliefs are tolerated rather than banished outright, symbols of worship, including 56,000 churches, exist across the country to this day.

However, a third, and increasingly powerful element has come into play in the battle between government, people, and religion: money. China’s powerhouses of commerce have a vested interest in making Christmas just as successful as the other holiday-centric orgies of consumerism – think Alibaba’s own and unabashed Double 12 (Dec 12), and Singles’ Day (Nov 11), the biggest day for e-commerce on the planet.

READ: 嚯, 嚯, 嚯! How Santa Claus Came to China

Regardless of whether China’s Christian population and a general taste for Christmas continues on its ascent or is forced further underground by tightening of policies, one thing is for sure: bible makers are also cashing in, big-time, with the Nanjing-based Amity Printing Company producing its 150 millionth copy last year, half of which were sold in China.

And with that, we'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

This article first appeared in the Nov/Dec 2017 issue of the Beijinger.
Read the issue via Issuu online here, or access it as a PDF here.

Images: Peter Parks, courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery