There is ‘no clear evidence’ that Christianity continues to grow in China in the 21st century following rapid growth during the preceding decades, according to a newly released academic paper.
The article, titled ‘The Growth of Christianity in China May Have Come to an End’, was published in Sage Journal at the start of the year, and drew upon research from 19 nationally representative surveys gathered since the turn of the century, as reported by China Christian Daily.
Conrad Hackett and Yunping Tong, the article’s most prominent authors, said that while Christianity experienced the most prominent growth of all major religions in China in the period following the Cultural Revolution, the expansion of the faith has since flatlined in the 21st century.
They suggested that how the faith fares in the nation is ‘consequential’ in understanding religion in China and Christianity in a global context, and that given its population of 1.4 billion, ‘any significant shifts could influence the global trajectory of Christianity.’
Some scholars have taken a far more positive view of the future for Christianity in the nation, with some even suggesting that it could grow at a rate of 7% every year for decades, resulting in over 500 million believers by 2040, but the co-authors say that nationally representative surveys ‘do not provide any clear evidence that Christianity in China is growing’.
Hackett and Tong revealed that the share of people who identify as Christians in China ‘varies modestly’ between surveys, but tends to sit at about 2%. Survey data also reveals that Christianity is more common amongst older demographic groups and not as popular among young people.
