Religion in China
- No religion (93.0%)
- Buddhism (3.70%)
- Folk beliefs (0.20%)
- Christianity (1.40%)
- Islam (1.30%)
- Other (0.30%)
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Religion in China is diverse and most Chinese people are either non-religious or practice a combination of Buddhism and Taoism with a Confucian worldview, which is collectively termed as Chinese folk religion.[1]
The People's Republic of China is officially an atheist state,[2] but the Chinese government formally recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism are recognized separately), and Islam.[3] All religious institutions in the country are required to uphold the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), implement Xi Jinping Thought, and promote the Religious Sinicization under the general secretaryship of Xi Jinping.[4] According to 2021 estimates from the CIA World Factbook, 52.1% of the population is unaffiliated, 21.9% follows Chinese Folk Religion, 18.2% follows Buddhism, 5.1% follow Christianity, 1.8% follow Islam, and 0.7% follow other religions including Taoism.[5]
- ^ a b 2023 approximations of the statistics from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) of the year 2018, as contained in the following analyses:
- "Measuring Religion in China" (PDF). Pew Research Center. 30 August 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 September 2023."Measuring Religions in China". 30 August 2023. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. A compilation of statistics from reliable surveys held throughout the 2010s and early 2020s, with an emphasis on the CFPS 2018.
- Wenzel-Teuber, Katharina (2023). "Statistics on Religions and Churches in the People's Republic of China – Update for the Year 2022" (PDF). Religions & Christianity in Today's China. XIII. China Zentrum: 18–44. ISSN 2192-9289. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 June 2023.
- Zhang, Chunni; Lu, Yunfeng; He, Sheng (2021). "Exploring Chinese folk religion: Popularity, diffuseness, and diversities" (PDF). Chinese Journal of Sociology. 7 (4). SAGE Publications: 575–592. doi:10.1177/2057150X211042687. ISSN 2057-150X. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 October 2023.
- ^ Dillon, Michael (2001). Religious Minorities and China (PDF). Minority Rights Group International.
- ^ Albert, Eleanor; Maizland, Lindsay. "Religion in China". Foreign Affairs. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 4 May 2022. In the early 21st century, there has been increasing official recognition of Confucianism and Chinese folk religion as part of China's cultural heritage.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "China", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 4 June 2025, retrieved 5 June 2025
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