RELIGION IN CHINA
31% of Chinese citizens consider religion very or somewhat important vs. 11% who consider it unimportant, finds an ’06 Pew Global Attitudes Project survey. Yet only 14-18% of Chinese adults would classify themselves in a particular religion in ’05, ’06 and ’07. In contrast, more than 80% of U.S. adults are religiously affiliated. The percentage of religiously affiliated Chinese may be unimpressive, but in terms of actual numbers it is nearly equal to the U.S. Of China’s recognized religions (Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, and Taoism) Buddhism is the largest with between 11% and 16% of Chinese adults. Christianity is next at less than 4%, but the Pew Forum says it’s likely more. Chinese government stats claim Christians increased 50% from 14 million to 21 million from ’97 to ’06. At the same time, Protestants increased from 10 million to 16 million (60%) and Catholics from 4 million to 5 million (25%). Researchers agree there are at least as many Chinese Christians associated with house churches as associated with state-recognized groups. The World Christian Database estimates 70 million Chinese are involved with more than 300 house church networks. It is estimated there are at least 12 million Catholics (7 million more than government stats acknowledge). A ’05 InterMedia survey for the Pew Forum found 33% of Communist Party officials and government employees are very or somewhat interested in having media access to religious information. This makes them the most interested among all occupational groups studied. Teachers/professors were next (24%) followed by retired citizens (24%) and service workers (23%). The least interested group was professionals (16%) and housewives (17%). The higher educated are the most interested (26%).
(Christian Post 5/5/08)