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At least 40 million copies of the Bible have been distributed across China since 1980, a leading religious official told China Daily.

Cao Shengjie, president of the China Christian Council, said that the past two decades have witnessed a surge in demand for the Bible and related books about Christianity.

Around 2.5 million copies of the Bible have been published in China annually over the past decade, said Cao, a key organizer of the Bible Ministry Exhibition of the Church in China, which was held in Hong Kong in 2004 and in Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York this year.

The exhibition examines the introduction and spread of the Bible in China and Bible ministries for churches attended by members of ethnic minorities.

"Any reader who is interested in religious culture or wants material for academic studies, can find books about religious culture, including Christian culture, in most Chinese bookstores," said Chen Chao, an official from the Information Office of the State Administration of Religious Affairs.

According to Sun Pengfei, a Beijing-based filmmaker and a believer in Protestantism, it is possible to find books about Christianity in bookstores in all major Chinese cities.

Sun said he has found around a dozen bookstores, mainly in Beijing's Haidian District, that sell books about the Bible.

Li Jingjing, a Christian and MBA student at Beijing's University of International Business and Economics, said that at least five editions of the Bible are available in churches, priced between 8 and 25 yuan (US$1-US$3.2)

The Bible first arrived in China as early as 1,500 years ago, while the first Chinese-language edition appeared in the early 19th century.

This was translated by Robert Morrison (1782-1834), widely believed to be the first Protestant missionary in China.

Morrison also compiled "A Dictionary of the Chinese Language," the first Chinese-English dictionary, which was first published in Macao in 1815.

The publication of the Bible continued after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The Chinese Government re-introduced the policy of religious freedom after the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), and has attached great importance to allowing the nation's Christians access to the Bible and other religious materials.

(China Daily December 23, 2006)