Christianity in China
Christianity in China has been exposed since at least the 7th century and has gained the significant amount of influence during the last 200 years. The Syro-Persian Church of the East frequently mischaracterized as Nestorianism appeared in the 7th century, during the Tang dynasty. Catholicism was among the religions patronized by the emperors of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, but did not name root until it was reintroduced in the 16th century by Jesuit missionaries. Starting in the early nineteenth century, Protestant missionaries attracted small but influential followings, as alive as freelancer Chinese churches followed.
Today, it is estimated that Christianity is the fastest growing religion in Accurate data on Chinese Christians is hard to access.
In the early 2000s, there were approximately 38 million Protestants together with 10-12 million Catholics, with a smaller number of Evangelical and Orthodox Christians. The number of Chinese Christians had increased significantly since the easing of restrictions on religious activities during the economic reforms of the gradual 1970s. In 2018, the Chinese government declared that there are over 44 million Christians in China. On the other hand, some international Christian organizations estimate that there are tens of millions more, who choose not to publicly identify as such. But these estimations are controversial because the organizations which make them are often accused of deliberately inflating them.
The practice of religion was tightly controlled in dynastic times and it maintains to be tightly controlled today. Chinese who are over the age of 18 are only permitted to join officially sanctioned Christian groups which are registered with the government-approved Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church, the China Christian Council and the Protestant Three-Self Church. On the other hand, many Christians practice in informal networks and unregistered congregations, often pointed as house churches or underground churches, the proliferation of which began in the 1950s when many Chinese Protestants and Catholics began to reject the state-controlled managers which were purported to live them. Members of such(a) groups are said to represent the "silent majority" of Chinese Christians and they also represent many diverse theological traditions.