--- SEARCH ---
WEATHER
CHINA
INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
CULTURE
GOVERNMENT
SCI-TECH
ENVIRONMENT
LIFE
PEOPLE
TRAVEL
WEEKLY REVIEW
Learning Chinese
Learn to Cook Chinese Dishes
Exchange Rates


Hot Links
China Development Gateway
Chinese Embassies

Beijing Expend Hugely in Renovating Religious Venues
The Beijing municipal government has allocated 120 million yuan (US$14.5 million) altogether in recent years to return its churches to full working order.

Ji Wenyuan, deputy director of the Beijing Administration of Religious Affairs, told Xinhua that the number of religious venues operating in Beijing had increased from four twenty years ago to the present 105, included Catholic and other Christian churches, Buddhist and Taoist temples and Islamic mosques.

In recent years, Beijing has expended 31 million yuan (US$3.7 million) to renovate the Catholic South Hall and East Hall, and Chongwenmen Christian Church among others.

The grounds of those churches have also been upgraded during the renovations.

The municipal government has also built a new Catholic seminary in the western suburbs of the capital with allocation of 17 million yuan (US$2.1 million).

The Catholic South Hall at Wangfujing in particular has become an attraction in this downtown area of Beijing since being renovated.

According to China's religious policy, religious groups should sustain their development through income generated from operating their properties. The work of affirming property rights in Beijing will be finished by the end of next year.

"Some of the churches have been used as schools and stores," said Hua Qian, an official from the Beijing Administration of Religious Affairs. "Their religious function must be resumed and their religious property rights must be affirmed."

With 923 religious properties altogether in the city, the affirmation of their property rights will help religious groups earn a stable income.

(People's Daily August 12, 2002)

Chinese Church to Offer Foreign Language Services
Christian Impact on Chinese Culture Researched
Beijing Passes Law to Protect Religion
Christian Meeting Highlights Religious Freedom
Chinese Religious Delegation Exhibits Photos in Geneva
Religious Harmony in a Chinese Village
Print This Page
|
Email This Page
About Us SiteMap Feedback
Copyright © China Internet Information Center. All Rights Reserved
E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-68326688