Delegates to elect leaders of Chinese Christian groups

The ninth National Chinese Christian Congress, or the top Christian authority in China, opened in Beijing on Sunday.

Held every five years and set to conclude on Wednesday, the congress will review the past five years' work of the National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China (TSPM) and the China Christian Council (CCC).

Also on the agenda will be an amendment of TSPM and CCC constitutions and election of both organizations' new leadership.

A total of 315 delegates from 30 provincial-level regions across the country attended the congress on Sunday.

More than 62 million copies of the Bible were distributed by TSPM and CCC from the resuming of worship by Chinese churches in 1979 after the end of Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) to the end of 2012, said a work report delivered to the congress.

China has one of the highest circulation figures for Bible distribution. An annual average of 3.5 million copies were distributed across the country over the past five years.

Currently, China has 21 Protestant seminaries, with 3,700 enrolled students.

The previous five years ended 2012 saw an increase of 2.4 million baptized believers in China, with more than 5,000 churches and meeting points newly built and over 1,000 pastors newly ordained.