China has the world’s largest Bible publisher—the Nanjing Amity Printing Company in Jiangsu Province—which has produced over 26 million Bibles since 1988.
Yet, rumors about the Chinese Bible continue to circulate regarding the availability and content of the Bible in China. For example, claims such as "The Bible in China does not include the Books of Daniel and Revelation"—just open an Amity-printed Bible and you'll see that's false or "Amity Printing no longer prints Bibles" are untrue.
Below are the three most widely circulated rumors about the Bible in China over the past seven years (since 2018) and the corresponding truths.
1. Rumor in 2018: was the Bible banned in China?
In 2018, many Western media outlets reported that the Bible had been banned in China, though similar claims had been circulating before that year. Some even claimed that it was illegal to own a Bible in the country.
This misconception may originate from the ban on online Bible sales in March 2018, which targeted illegally published books on online shopping platforms such as JD. Com and Taobao after the revised regulations on religious affairs took effect on February 1, 2018. The sale of Qurans has also been prohibited online since then.
Truth:
While it is true that Christians cannot purchase the Bible from online stores or regular bookstores in China, they can easily obtain the Bible through registered churches.
In a 2011 interview with Phoenix TV, Wang Zuo’an, the then-director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs (now the National Religious Affairs Administration), explained that the Bible, not an openly available publication, does not have an ISBN number, which indicates that it cannot be sold in stores. Instead, it can only be distributed at churches affiliated with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement across the country for internal use. Wang further stated that the printing and distribution of the Bible have been entrusted to China Christian Council & Three-Self Patriotic Movement (CCC&TSPM), allowing them to use the proceeds to support financially struggling churches, in line with the goal of self-sufficiency.
All the Bibles sold in churches in China are printed in Amity Printing, a joint venture established in 1988 between the Amity Foundation and the United Bible Societies, according to its official website. With an annual Bible production of over 30 million, Amity Printing offers Bible in different languages to the Protestant and Catholic churches in China, as well as other 157 countries and regions. The most widely used Chinese version by Chinese Protestants is the Chinese Union Version (CUV), published in 1919. Other translations also include the Chinese New Version, the Chinese King James Version, the Chinese Contemporary Bible, the Chinese Standard Bible, and the Chinese Study Bible. Special editions are also provided as holiday gifts and daily devotionals, such as the 2024 Christmas Edition.
Meanwhile, there are Bible translation teams for seven ethnic minority groups in Yunnan Province. The translated languages are for Miao, Lisu, Yi, Wa, and Jingpo people. Recent publications include Gan Yi Language-Chinese Parallel Bible, the Bilingual Bible in the Standard Chinese and Zaiwa of Jingpo People, and the Eastern Lisu Bible.
2. Rumor in 2019: the Bible would be rewritten so that the doctrines would align with the "new times."
In 2019, a rumor circulating online claimed that China had rewritten the Bible. This kind of rumor evolves to suggest the “newly translated” Chinese Bible will incorporate Buddhist and Confucian teachings to alter Christian doctrines, supposedly under the guidance of the “Outline of the Five-Year Work Plan for Advancing the Sinicization of Christianity (2018-2022).”
China would "retranslate" the Bible or add Buddhist and Confucian teachings to it to make it "reflect Chinese ethics of Confucianism and socialism," said The Christian Post.
Before Christmas of 2019, both Le Figaro, a French newspaper, and The Daily Mail, a U.K.-based newspaper, reported that China would “rewrite the Bible and the Quran” to “reflect socialist values.” Le Figaro stated, “The Gospel will have to conform to the Marxist-Leninist vulgate laced with ‘Chinese characteristics,’ and the parables of Jesus Christ will have to remain in line with the Communist Party, under penalty of being expurgated from the Bibles available to the faithful in the most populous country on the planet.” The Daily Mail added that the party called for “comprehensive evaluation of the existing religious classics” to ensure that contents align with “the progress of the times.”
Although the Bible was not mentioned at all "during a meeting held by the Committee for Ethnic and Religious Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which oversees the ethnic and religious matters in China," Wang Yang, chairman of the CPPCC, stressed on November 26, 2019, that "religious authorities must follow President Xi's instructions and interpret the ideologies of different religions in accordance with 'the core values of Socialism' and 'the requirements of the era'."
Truth:
Released in March 2018, the "Outline of the Five-Year Work Plan for Advancing the Sinicization of Christianity (2018-2022)" did mention that one of the key efforts to sinicize Christianity in China should include “the cultivation of biblical scholars” to “lay a solid foundation for undertaking Bible retranslation or compiling biblical commentaries” in order to “establish a correct view of the Bible and develop a contextualized hermeneutic.”
However, as Brent Flution writes in his article titled "Is China Rewriting the Bible?," the registered church "ought to be in a position to reinterpret or annotate scripture in light of China’s own cultural realities" as a response to Chinese leader Xi Jinping's address to a national conference of religious leaders in 2016 which decreed that "religion in China needed to be “Sinicized."
Brent argues that the focus is on training scholars rather than directly producing a new Chinese Bible, suggesting that the TSPM church currently lacks the resources for such a project. He explained, "Rather than a definitive mandate to produce a new Chinese Bible, the statement itself could be seen more as a tacit admission that the TSPM currently lacks sufficient resources to undertake such a project."
Moreover, even if a new translation were created, it is unlikely to gain acceptance among Chinese Christians, who are deeply attached to the Chinese Union Version (CUV). "Given that most Chinese Christians are deeply committed to the Chinese Union Version, even to the point of rejecting other contemporary Chinese translations undertaken by reputable Bible scholars, it is highly unlikely that they would embrace a new edition of the Bible provided by the Chinese government," he added.
Since then, no new Chinese Bible has been released with such teachings or socialist values.
3. Rumor in 2020: China distorted a passage in John 8, depicting Jesus killing an adulterous woman.
In 2020, reports emerged about a Chinese vocational school textbook allegedly altering the biblical account of John 8:3–11, sparking accusations that China was attempting to rewrite the Bible. The distortion claimed that Jesus came to stone a woman caught in adultery to death instead of forgiving her sin, even admitting that he was also a sinner. The news spread quickly, with religious communities calling it "blasphemy."
Truth：
Further scrutiny revealed that the altered passage had existed in other sources before 2018. The reporter of China Christian Daily traced the story back to at least 2005 when a similar narrative appeared in a footnote of an accounting book, Figures Can Talk. The footnote humorously modified the biblical story to illustrate a legal principle, suggesting that misunderstandings and misinterpretations could have contributed to the controversy. A Chinese professor named Anna emphasized that many Chinese people, including textbook authors, have limited knowledge of the Bible, which can lead to unintentional distortions. Additionally, the restricted availability of the Bible in China, sold only through state-sanctioned churches, may further contribute to widespread biblical illiteracy.
Despite international reactions, the exact origin of the alleged textbook remains unclear. Neither the WeChat user who first posted about it nor Professor Anna has been able to locate a physical copy. The professor suggested that the incident highlights broader issues of misinformation and the need for careful fact-checking before making accusations. She advised religious communities to engage in constructive dialogue and verification rather than jumping to conclusions. While China's crackdown on pirated books continues, this case underscores the challenges of regulating educational materials and the importance of fostering greater biblical literacy in the country.
