Chinese factory to supply one in four Bibles
Riazat Butt,
religious affairs correspondent
The Guardian,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/02/religion.china
China will become one of the biggest Bible producing countries in the
world when a new printing press opens this month.
Nanjing, once the country's capital, is home to a 48,000-sq metre
factory in an industrial park which will employ 600 non-Christian
locals producing 23 Bibles a minute. Most will be distributed in China
in 10 languages and braille. The plant is expected to supply a quarter
of the world's Bibles by 2009.
The Amity Printing Company, a joint venture with the British Bible
Society, printed its 50 millionth Bible last December and its new
press, opening on May 19, will double annual production to 12m.
Peter Dean, a consultant for the Bible Society in Nanjing, said: "We
got to the point where the volume of work was so great we hadn't got
enough room to store the books in stages of binding and all the paper.
It was everywhere."
Chinese people are becoming increasingly interested in Christianity,
he added. "There are differing views on how many Christians there are
but everyone agrees there is a lot of growth in the church." At least
7% of the population are estimated to be believers.
Although authorities lifted the ban on Christianity 30 years ago,
restrictions remain. Smuggling unauthorised Bibles can still lead to a
jail sentence.
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