On November 29, Yunnan Provincial CC&TSPM held the "Launch Ceremony of the Bilingual Bible in the Standard Chinese and Zaiwa of Jingpo People" at Zion Church in Yingjiang County, Dehong Dai, and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture.
According to Dehong Prefecture CC&TSPM, the ceremony saw the attendance of provincial and prefectural Christian leaders, representatives from Nanjing Amity Printing Company, local Christian pastors, and believers.
It is reported that the printing and publication of the bilingual Bible in Mandarin and Jingpo Zaiwa is a practical initiative by Yunnan Province to promote the use of the national common language with respect and protection of the minority languages while systematically advancing the sinicization of Christianity.
According to Joshua Project, the Jingpo people includes members of the Zaiwa, Maru, Lashi, and Bela people groups in China, in addition to Jingpo proper. The total population in 2010 was more than 147,800, as per People's Daily. There are more than 35,000 Jingpo believers in Yunnan Province, most of whom live in Dehong Prefecture. The Jingpo people have their own language and script. The Jingpo script includes two forms: Jingpo script and Zaiwa script, both of which are phonetic systems based on the Latin alphabet. These scripts are still widely used in Jingpo communities today.
Yunnan is home to 25 ethnic minority groups. Currently, there are Bible translation teams for seven of these groups in the province. The translated languages are for Miao, Lisu, Yi, Wa, and Jingpo people.
