I just got the following in an email from John Pearson. Interesting data:
The only authorized Christian publisher in China is celebrating a milestone on Saturday as the 50 millionth Bible rolls off the presses, according to a report in the Times of London. Click here for more from the Times of London. Demand for the Bible is soaring in officially-atheist China, at a time when meteoric economic growth is testing the country’s allegiance to Communist doctrine, the Times of London reports. Now, the demand in China for Bibles is such that Amity Printing, a joint venture between Chinese Christian charity and the United Bible Societies, a Protestant organization, can barely keep pace. Early next year it will move into a new, much larger factory on the edge of the eastern city of Nanjing to become the world’s single-biggest producer of Bibles. “This platform has been built as a blessing to the nation. It will print Bibles for China for as long as it takes to do it,” said New Zealander Peter Dean, of the United Bible Societies.
December 8, 2007