One–fourth of Chinese population religious: Survey

About 400 million people in the People's Republic of China, or about 30 percent of the country's population, practice a religion, a new survey conducted by East China Normal University has revealed.

Official estimates previously had placed the number of religious followers at around 100 million.

Social crisis and a growing gap between rich and poor are causing more people to turn to religion, the author of the survey told The New York Times. "People feel troubled as they ponder these issues and wonder how they’ll be resolved," Liu Zhongyu said. "People think, I don't care what others do or what their results are, but I want something to rely upon."

China officially recognizes five religions – Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam – and has restored or built new worship facilities for these groups.

The government selects senior clergy for each of them, however, and persecutes people who follow unauthorized groups, including underground Protestant house churches.