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What's This?

Over 100 Million Bibles Have Been
Printed In China
http://www.christianpost.com
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The only printing company authorized to print the Bible in China
announced Thursday that the nation has now printed over 100
million copies of the Christian scriptures.

Qiu Zhonghui, chairman of the board of Amity Printing Co. Ltd.,
said the 100 millionth copy was printed back in July, Xinhuanet
reports.

His company has printed 60 million Bibles (including nine separate
ethnic minority language editions) and provided 40 million copies in
more than 90 languages to about 70 different countries and regions
around the world.

Amity Printing has been publishing the Holy Bible since 1988, when


the company was started as a joint venture between the United Bible
Societies (UBS) and the Amity Foundation.

On Tuesday, UBS leaders and a number of Bible Societies donors
joined government officials from the State of Administration for
Religious Affairs (SARA) and the Chinese Christian Council/Three-
Self Patriotic Movement (CCC/TSPM) for a ceremony celebrating
the over 60 million Bibles that have been distributed throughout
China alone.

Michael Perreau, general secretary for UBS, thanked SARA leaders
and the Chinese government for their support of UBS's partnership
with the Chinese church.

"In today's fast-paced digitized world where there's so much
spiritual hunger and poverty, many still yearn for relational and
spiritual connectivity," said Perreau, according to an article on the
UBS website.

"More than 2000 languages in the world are still without a
translation of the Bible, while many poor Christians in the rural
areas of China are still waiting to receive their first Bible. Therefore,
it is my hope that through this long-standing relationship, UBS will
find continuing opportunities to make a difference in the lives of the
Chinese people."

China has more than 16 million Christians today, the Xinhuanet
report states, as well as 1,800 seminarians in 18 Bible schools. It
also has 55,000 churches and gathering venues, 100,000 church
volunteers and 36,000 missionaries.

But some believe the number of Christians in China is actually much
higher than the country's government has said due to the large
number of Christians who worship separately from churches run by
the government.

An article that appeared in the May 2011 issue of First Things
magazine, and was written by social sciences professors, combines a
number of different surveys to suggest that there may have been
about 70 million Christians living in China in 2011.

In 2010, the U.K.-based Bible Society reported that the growth of
the church in China was too rapid for the Bible publisher to keep up
with. Christians living in rural areas, or those who don't belong to
CCC/TSPM churches, are often forced to live their faith without the
book.

Not all bookstores in China are permitted to sell the scriptures either,
and there are only about 70 sales outlets where they can be
purchased.

The church in China still faces many challenges. Even if there were
70 million believers, Christians would only make up just over five
percent of country's population.

Open Doors USA also has China listed as 21 on its World Watch
List for Christian persecution, as the government continues to
persecute church groups not affiliated with the state's church
organizations.