Beijing, China - Three hundred million Chinese consider themselves religious, three times more than previously estimated by the government, the country's first major survey on faith indicated.
The report, carried in the China Daily newspaper Wednesday, said 31.4 per cent of those aged 16 and older consider themselves pious. That equals 300 million people and is much higher than the official figure of 100 million, the state-run newspaper said. The poll of 4,500 people was conducted by professors Tong Shijun and Liu Zhongyu of the East China Normal University in Shanghai.
China's communist leaders allow worship only in government-monitored churches, temples and mosques.
China has five officially recognized religious groups - Buddhists, Muslims, Taoists, Roman Catholics and Protestants - and the poll said about 200 million of the believers "are Buddhists, Taoists or worshippers of legendary figures such as the Dragon King and God of Fortune."
But the survey, also published in the Oriental Outlook magazine, pointed to a significant rise in the number of people who describe themselves as followers of Christianity.
It said 12 per cent of all believers, or 40 million people, were Christians, higher than official figures. In 2005, Beijing said there were 16 million, while there were around 10 million in the late 1990s.
The State Administration for Religious Affairs did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.
The survey also asked 1,361 people for the reasons behind the religious revival and 24.1 per cent said religion "shows the true path of life," while 28 per cent said it "helps cure illness, avoid disasters and ensure that life is smooth".
The key reasons were especially common in rural areas, the paper quoted Liu saying. But he said the increased interest is not a result of poverty, as a large portion of new believers came from the economically developed coastal areas.
He attributed the rise to greater freedom in China and to increased problems tied to the rapid social and economic changes in the country.
The average age of worshippers has also fallen, said the report, as about two-thirds of the survey group fell in 16-39 age group, while only 9.6 per cent were 55 or older.