(Shandong – November 25, 2025) According to recent information, students from several higher education institutions in Shandong Province in eastern China said that school administrations have imposed stricter restrictions on religious activities both on and off campus. At the beginning of 2025, several higher education institutions conducted investigations requiring students to fill out questionnaires that asked whether they had religious beliefs, locations of their gatherings, and whether they participated in offerings.

According to students and individuals familiar with the situation, some students who were marked as “having religious beliefs” were subsequently subjected to joint questioning by public security departments at the provincial, municipal, county, and district levels. Some students said these conversations carried a clear implication of deterrence. Similar investigations have reportedly also been carried out in primary and secondary schools.

Several individuals closely connected to the relevant institutions said that an objective had circulated within the internal of the supervising department, which is to strive to “clean up” house churches within one year so that such gatherings would no longer appear at the local level. Additional reports indicate that even officially recognized Christian churches are facing tighter inspections and downsizing behind the scenes.

China Aid Association