A look back at China's growing faith

Much attention has been paid to China's human rights violations, including its suppression of religious freedom, ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August. But a look back at the past decade shows how far the strictly secular and officially atheist nation has come in terms of religion.

About a third (31 per cent) of Chinese citizens consider religion to be very or somewhat important in their lives, compared to only a tenth (11 per cent) who say religion is not at all important, according to a 2006 survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project that was referenced in a Pew Forum analysis on Friday.

But when it comes to religious affiliation, only about one-in-five Chinese adults (from 14 to 18 per cent) named a particular religion, surveys conducted by Horizon Research Consultancy Group in 2005, 2006 and 2007 showed.

By comparison, more than eight in 10 adults in the United States say they are religiously affiliated, according to the US Religious Landscape Survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in 2007.

Although the percentage of religiously affiliated Chinese may be unimpressive, when translated to actual numbers it is quite large - nearly equal to the estimated number of religiously affiliated adults in the United States.

Out of China's recognised religions - Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, and Taoism - Buddhism is the largest religious group, according to the Horizon surveys. Between 11 (2005 survey) and 16 percent (2006 survey) of the adult population are Buddhists.

The second largest officially recognised religion in China is Christianity. Less than four per cent of the adult population identifies itself as Christian, but the number is likely higher, the Pew Forum suggests.

Official statistics by the Chinese Government shows that Christians increased by 50 per cent from 14 million to 21 million in less than 10 years (between 1997 to 2006). During this period, Protestants increased from 10 million to 16 million, or by 60 per cent, while Catholics increased from 4 million to 5 million, or by 25 per cent.

But it is more difficult to measure the non-registered Christian population.

In general, researchers agree that there are at least as many Chinese Christians associated with organisations unaffiliated with the government - what some call the "house churches" - as there are Christians associated with state-recognised groups.

The World Christian Database estimates that there are about 70 million Chinese associated with more than 300 house church networks among the Han majority. Regarding underground Catholics, the Holy Spirit Study Center in Hong Kong - which monitors Catholics that do not belong to the state-approved Catholic body - estimates there are at least 12 million Catholics in China, or 7 million more than acknowledged by the government.

But perhaps the most interesting find in recent years regarding religion in China is an analysis by the Pew Forum of a 2005 survey conducted by InterMedia, an international research and consultation organisation specialising in media and communication.

The unprecedented survey questioned more than 10,000 adults across 21 of China's 31 mainland provinces, municipal districts and autonomous regions.

The Pew analysis of the survey found that 33 percent of Communist Party officials and government employees are very or somewhat interested in having media access to information on the topic of religion. This makes them the most interested group among the 11 occupational categories reported.

Perhaps an example of growing government tolerance of religion in China is a speech made last year by President and General Secretary Hu Jintao of the Communist Party of China that included a formal discussion of religion. He was the first head of communist China to speak about the beneficial role of religion at China's National Congress.

In January 2008, Hu stated to the Chinese Politburo, "We must strive to closely unite religious figures and believers ... to build an all-around ... prosperous society while quickening the pace toward the modernisation of socialism," according to the Pew Forum.

Behind government or communist party members, teachers or professors were the second most interested occupational group in the topic of religion (24 per cent). They were followed by retired citizens (24 per cent) and service workers (23 per cent).

The occupational group least interested in religion were professionals (16 per cent) and housewives (17 per cent).

Other interesting findings in the 2005 InterMedia survey include the nearly equal interest in the topic of religion between men (21 per cent) and women (22 per cent). In most other countries, women are more interested in religion than men.

Another unique feature about China's religious population is that people of higher education (university or higher) are most interested in the topic of religion (26 per cent) among the educational levels.

The people with the least interest in religion are those who attended vocational college (18 per cent). It is noteworthy that most party and government employees in the survey had vocational college education.

There is also about the same level of interest in the topic of religion across age groups, ranging from 20 to 23 per cent for those aged 15 to over 60 years old, according to the InterMedia survey.

Also unlike other countries, urban dwellers are more interested in religion (24 per cent) than rural residents (18 per cent).

"The relatively high level of interest in the topic of religion by Communist Party and government employees, in particular, may indicate that the government is seeking to come to terms with the interest in religion on the part of many people in China," commented Brian Grim, senior research fellow in Religion and World Affairs at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

"So, although religion will not be competing in the Olympic Games, it seems to be a more competitive force in China than people imagine," observed the respected scholar.