The only company authorized to print
Bibles in China is marking a milestone: the release today of copy number
"80 million" from their printing presses, announced by the official
government press agency.
Amity Printing Co. located in the eastern city
of Nanjing claims to have printed one million copies a month. Since its
founding in 1988, the company has grown to become one of the largest
printers of Bibles in the world.
"The production of 80 million copies of
the Bible can be attributed to the world of Chinese Christians, and
even more to the country's reform and its policy of increased openness,"
says Qiu Zhonghui, president of Amity.
About a quarter of the bibles
printed in the world today are made in China, noted Xu Xiaohong,
secretary general of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) which
oversees the Protestant churches.
Protestant churches in China must register with the Council of
Christians and TSPM China (CCC) in order to operate legally.
Both these
bodies are controlled by the government, which put obedience
to state authority on the same level as obedience to the authority of
Christ.
Many communities gather in private, the so-called "domestic"
churches, and refuse to join because they state that "Christ is the head
of the church, not the government".
Amity, in addition to the Bible in
Chinese, produces sacred books in English, French, Spanish and Braille.
It has exported more than 26 million Bibles in over 60 countries, about
one third of its total production.
Religious freedom groups say there are more than 100 million
Protestant believers in China, including those of "private churches".
Christians who belong to unofficial churches and those living in rural
areas are struggling to get a bible.
Moreover, despite the rapid pace of
production, many Christians still do not have a copy because of the
shortage in supply, or restrictions on distribution.
SIC: AN/INT'L