The number of Christians in China has hit a record 23.05 million in 2010, according to a survey released on recently by the institute of world religions at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
“Nearly 69 percent of believers said they converted to Christianity after either they or members of their family fell ill,” Li Lin, who organized the survey, said in the Blue Book on China Religions, a book that lists facts on religion in China. “About 15 percent of believers said they are Christian because of the influence of family traditions.”
Li pointed out that the number of female Christians is much higher than male Christians, taking up a whopping 70 percent of the total number.
The book also revealed a increase in other faiths, including Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism and Taoism.
The poll found that most of the Chinese Christians are located in the eastern coastal and the Yangtze River areas, which are China’s most densely populated and economically prosperous regions.
To accommodate the increase in the number of churchgoers, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of churches in the country, which currently stand at more than 55,000.
via Over 23 million Christians in country on China Daily
