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Christianity in China and the house churches
churches reopen from 1979; size estimates vary widely· Church or tradition· Church, doctrine & the world
Debated by scholarsHistorians and scholars disagree.
Christianity in China survived Mao-era suppression and has grown since 1979, in state-registered churches and unregistered 'house churches.'
See it on the Bible & Christianity map →What it is
Christians reached China long ago: the Church of the East in 635, Jesuits in 1583, Protestants in 1807. In 1949 there were about 1 million Protestants and 3 million Catholics. The communist state expelled missionaries, put churches under the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and a Catholic Patriotic Association, and closed all churches in the Cultural Revolution. Since 1979 the faith has spread fast, often in unregistered house churches. Under Xi Jinping, 'Sinicization' rules, cross removals and arrests have tightened control.
Why it matters
If even middle estimates are right, China has more Christians than most Western countries, a striking outcome for faith under an officially atheist state.
Sources and history
Estimates vary widely: government figures (about 38 million Protestants and 6 million Catholics in 2018), Pew's 2023 survey analysis (about 2% of adults), and researchers' estimates of 60–100 million or more.
Questions and debates
No one knows the true number, since many believers avoid surveys. Scholars debate whether growth continued or plateaued after the 2010s, amid crackdowns such as the 2019 jailing of Chengdu pastor Wang Yi.
Connections (2)
▸Christianity in China and the house churches is a fast-growing part of Christianity's center shifts to the Global SouthMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
China's churches grew from about 1 million Protestants in 1949 to tens of millions today, without foreign missionaries and largely under pressure, one of the most striking examples of the shift south and east. Sociologist Fenggang Yang has projected that China could have the world's largest Christian population by 2030.
When and where
China, especially from the 1980s, spreading first in rural provinces such as Henan, then among urban professionals in cities like Wenzhou, Chengdu and Beijing.
How do we know?
Government and church statistics, academic surveys and field studies; all figures are estimates, which is why this link is rated mostly agreed rather than certain.
Questions and debates
Pew's 2023 analysis suggests growth may have plateaued around 2% of adults, contradicting high projections; secret believers are hard to count.
▸Christianity in China and the house churches built on the early work of Matteo Ricci, Jesuit in ChinaMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Ricci's Jesuit mission, which adapted Christianity to Confucian culture, created China's first lasting Catholic communities, like that of scholar Xu Guangqi in Shanghai, whose families kept the faith through bans and persecution. Today's Protestant house churches stem mainly from later missions, but Chinese and Vatican leaders still hold up Ricci as a model of adapting faith to culture.
When and where
Zhaoqing, 1583; Beijing, 1601–10; Shanghai's Xujiahui district, named for Xu's family, remained a Catholic center; Pope Francis declared Ricci 'Venerable' in 2022.
How do we know?
Ricci's journals and Chinese writings, Jesuit records and Chinese sources; church historians document the continuity of Catholic families.
Questions and debates
The Chinese Rites controversy, when Rome banned Ricci's accommodations in 1715 and the emperor banned the mission in 1721, broke much of his work; how much truly continued is debated.