How Many Christians are there in China?

by Paul Hattaway

Since Marco Polo returned from China 700 years ago, the question of how many followers of Jesus Christ are in the world's most populous nation has fascinated many mission researchers and believers around the world. In recent years there has been heated debate and widely varying estimates of the size of the Body of Christ in China.

Now, after more than a decade of research, we present the most comprehensive study ever conducted into the number of Christians in all 2,371 cities and counties, within all 33 provinces and regions of China. Estimates are provided for all believers — Protestants belonging to the registered Three-Self churches as well as house churches, and for registered and underground Catholic believers.

The statistics in this study are backed by more than 2,000 sources of information, all footnoted within our tables. We intend to update this study regularly as new information comes to light, and we welcome readers to update or comment on our data by contacting us (full confidentiality is assured).

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View a map showing the distribution of Christians in China

(courtesy of Global Mapping International)

Click here to submit a comment on the findings of our study