In just 13 years the number of Bibles printed in China has gone from none to 25 million.
Chinese Christians and other gathered in Nanjing, China, Dec. 4, 2000, to celebrate the printing of 25 million copies of the Bible in China.
The first Bible to be printed in China rolled off the presses Christmas Day 1987. The Bibles are printed at the Amity Printing Company, a joint venture of the Amity Foundation and the United Bible Societies.
“The purpose of the printing of Bibles is not to store them in warehouses but to distribute them across China,” said Bao Jia Yuan, associate secretary of the China Christian Council. Bao reported there are 70 distribution centers.
They are located in every province, municipality and autonomous region in China, with the exception of Tibet.
The Bible is printed in several languages: Han Chinese in both simplified and traditional script, bilingual English and Chinese, Braille, and in seven minority languages – Dai, Korean, Jingbo, Lahu, Yi, Miao and Yau. Amity Printing Company also prints Bible commentaries, study Bibles, scriptural wall and desk calendars and pocket calendars. Various sizes of the Bible are printed, including the large print Bible, which is popular among senior citizens, and the small pocket Bible, which is popular among young people and college students.
Bibles, hymnals and other Christian literature will be sold across the nation throughout 2001 from the plains of Inner Mongolia to the snow fields of Helongjiang in the north and to the southern mountains in Yunnan Province. They will also reach the interior tourist city of Xi’an in Shanxi Province and from the port cities of Shandong Province in the east to the desert of Xinjiang Province in the west.
As guests and church leaders left the celebration three flags were waving in the air- the flag of the People’s Republic of China, the United Bible Society’s flag and Amity Printing Company’s flag.
Some people have said, “Printing Bibles in China couldn’t happen,” but it has.
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