East China's Jiangxi Province has established a provincial-level Islamic association to better safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of more than 10,000 Muslims in the province.
The association is also expected to enhance coordination between Islamic organizations in China and promote exchanges with foreign Islamic organizations, said Hai Pengjun, the newly-elected chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Islamic Association.
Islam was first introduced into Jiangxi in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
At present, the province has three city-level Islamic associations, five mosques and four professional imams.
Jiangxi attaches great importance to the religious activities of Muslims, according to sources with the provincial religious bureau.
Since the founding of New China in 1949, the province has earmarked huge funds to repair and rebuild five mosques, in Nanchang, Jiujiang, Jingdezhen and Ganzhou cities and Lushan District of Jiujiang City.
All these efforts were made to guarantee the normal religious activities of Muslims, the sources said.
The Islam faith was first brought into China more than 1,300 years ago. There are now approximately 20 million Muslims in 10 ethnic groups in China.
Currently, China has 24 provincial-level Islamic associations and over 30,000 mosques.
(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2003)
