by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – At a recent meeting in Wuhan, Christian media in China were instructed to increase their coverage of Xi Jinping’s thoughts and key Communist Party documents, according to a religious liberty and human rights magazine.
The meeting, held on April 17 and 18, was a plenary session of the Three-Self Church’s Media Ministry Committee. It was presided over by Pastor Wang Jun, Vice President of the China Christian Council and director of the Media Ministry Committee. Pastor Gu Mengfei, Secretary General of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, also attended, Bitter Winter reported.
Pastor Geng Weizhong, another Vice President of the China Christian Council, urged Christian media to focus more on promoting Xi Jinping’s directives, particularly those related to the United Front. Pastor Gu Mengfei emphasized the importance of this year’s Two Sessions in fostering national unity, combating separatism, and promoting the Sinicization of religion.
China’s Christian (Protestant) media, legally allowed only under the government-controlled Three-Self Church, already include significant portions of Party propaganda. However, at the Wuhan meeting, officials made it clear that this level of propaganda was insufficient and should be increased.
The directives align with broader CCP efforts to integrate religious practice with socialist values, pushing Christian communities to align more closely with Party ideology. Bitter Winter reports that the United Front continues to intensify its campaign to control religious expression, making clear that even officially sanctioned churches are not exempt from political influence.
Earlier this year, the Chinese government boasted about its intensified crackdown on independent religious groups in 2024. “China’s public security authorities intensified efforts to dismantle cult organizations in 2024,” the state-run Global Times reported. “They have worked to curb the growth and spread of cult organizations, mitigating potential threats to national political security and maintaining social stability.”
In the 2025 World Watch List by Open Doors, China is ranked 15th out of 50 for severe Christian persecution, up four spots from the previous year. This rise is due to stricter regulatory enforcement, resulting in the shutdown of unregistered churches and heightened scrutiny of official ones. Open Doors estimates there are about 96.7 million Christians in China.
Since the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, Christianity has experienced significant growth, increasing from 4 million Christians to an estimated 58 million Protestants and 9 million Catholics by 2010.
Despite ongoing intense persecution and strict government controls, current estimates suggest that there are between 80 and 100 million Christians in China, including both officially registered members and those in unregistered house church communities.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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