Despite the continuing over half a century rigid ideological "war on religion", China has not become a country of mass atheism. The data suggest that the latest research, atheists consider themselves to be barely 15% of its citizens.

The actual level of religiosity in China is very difficult to determine. Thus, according to official figures of 1 billion 300 million Chinese are only 100 million are believers, but in reality this figure may be an order of magnitude greater.

In recent years, sociologists of the most authoritative research centers in China, including Peking University, conducted a thorough study of Chinese attitudes toward religion. The scientists note that their findings may have serious errors, because, despite the guarantee of complete anonymity, not all participants were honest in the answers, all the same fear of possible reprisals "for religion." Nevertheless, it was found that 85% of Chinese people have religious beliefs. Even members of the Communist Party of China, in which atheism is a condition of membership, not too true atheist ideology: 17% of them confessed to the commitment of any of the religions, while 65% - of involvement in religious practices during the past year.

The most popular religion of China is Buddhism. Considers himself a Buddhist, one in five Chinese (18% of citizens).

750 million Chinese have admitted to worship their ancestors. Christians called themselves the 33 million Chinese and 40 million more said they believe in Jesus Christ and help participate in Christian rituals. According to the authors, the real number of Christians in China may reach 60 million.

Faced with the failure of an atheistic state seeks to put all the faithful under their control. For this purpose, are controlled by the regime of "hand" of believers, like "Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association." Total to date are five such groups: Buddhist, Taoist, Islamic, Catholic and Protestant. They signed a joint declaration calling to serve the People's Republic, and tolerance for each other.



The Chinese government, meanwhile, announced its intention to "take seriously" for the Protestant underground. The official purpose of such action - to force them to join the recognized authorities in church structures. It is expected that the objects of repression become, above all, the so-called "house churches", sometimes numbering several thousand faithful.