The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has released new regulations that ban foreign missionaries from preaching, sharing their faith, and establishing religious organizations unless they first get approval from the government.
The restrictions will take effect May 1st in China, and although it does not ban Christianity or church activity, it does limit religious activity and place it under greater scrutiny.
Authorities will now require all religious groups to register with the state and limit their activities to government-approved locations. This will make evangelism nearly impossible.
“It doesn’t slam the door closed; it just makes it a whole lot more difficult to keep open. There’s more steps in the process, more scrutiny in the process,” Kurt Rovenstine with Bibles for China told Mission News Network.
Chinese state media claimed earlier this month that the new regulations promote national security, which International Christian Concern cites as a common justification used by the communist regime for religious persecution.
“The CCP has long viewed independent religious activity with suspicion, arguing that religious loyalty is at odds with the ultimate loyalty demanded by the Communist Party,” the group explained in a news release. “The government labels independent religious activity as cultish and extremist, regardless of its theological roots, and demands that all Christian religious activity take place within the confines of state-run churches.”
These new regulations reflect the party’s campaign under President Xi Jinping for the “sinicization of religion,” a term used to make religious faith groups adhere to Chinese socialist values and culture.
This is why many independent house churches are raided, and their members are charged with working against the state.
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Earlier this year, the Chinese government issued a report boasting about the increased persecution of independent religious groups in 2024, which the CCP labels as “cult” groups, ICC reports.
“China’s public security authorities intensified efforts to dismantle cult organizations in 2024,” reported the Global Times, a state-run media outlet. “They have worked to curb the growth and spread of cult organizations, mitigating potential threats to national political security and maintaining social stability.”
Additionally, China’s Ministry of Public Security issued a statement across its messaging and social media platform, WeChat, about its increased spending on technology and man-power to combat independent religious organizations.
China is an atheist communist state that claims to tolerate only five legal religions: Catholicism, Protestant Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, and Islam.
The Protestant “Three Self Church” and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association are examples of state-run denominations, but instead of preaching Jesus Christ, they work to promote CCP propaganda including the “personality cult surrounding country President Xi Jinping through songs, sermons, and community events,” ICC reports.
As CBN News reported previously, the CCP is also attempting to rewrite the Bible in its own image, with officials in one area also testing out a new app demanding citizens pre-register before attending religious services.
China’s latest regulations cracking down on missions activities are no surprise but are raising an alarm among faith leaders.
China is not only raising tariffs, but they are also raising more barriers to religious freedom.
Requiring approval (that will never be granted) for missionary work is the latest suppression of religious freedom by the long arm of the Chinese Communist Party.
These… pic.twitter.com/kKGqceXF8j
— Tony Perkins (@tperkins) April 9, 2025
Arielle Del Turco, director of the Center for Religious Liberty at Family Research Council, told the Washington Stand it is now “much more dangerous” to be a Christian in the country and warns those who plan to travel to China.
“It should be straight-up embarrassing for the Chinese government to classify this as a ‘national security’ issue. Chinese national security isn’t threatened by foreign missionaries — it’s threatened by their leaders who are becoming increasingly closed off to and hostile towards other countries. Banning missionaries will harm China’s relations with other countries further, and that’s a shame.”
Del Turco added, “It will likely affect U.S. citizens who might simply share their faith on a short visit to China. U.S. leaders should condemn this move and more closely monitor religious freedom conditions in China.”
