(Jiangxi – March 15, 2025) Recently, the Jiangxi provincial government has further intensified its supervision of religious groups, with Catholic and Protestant organizations across the region holding so-called “Comprehensive and Strict Governance of Religion Inspection Meetings.” While these meetings are ostensibly aimed at “standardized management,” they in fact reflect the Chinese government’s increasingly tightening of religious activities to ensure alignment with official ideology.
Government Intervention in Xinyu Church Affairs
According to China Christian Daily, on January 22, 2025, the “Two Associations” of Christianity of Xinyu City held a Comprehensive and Strict Governance of Religion Inspection Meeting at Yushui Church, where government officials and church leaders jointly reviewed issues related to “construction of church values” and “internal management.”
Notably, this meeting was not independently convened by religious groups but was instead led by government departments such as the United Front Work Department and the Religious Affairs Bureau, demonstrating the government’s deep intervention in church affairs.
Provincial level intervention
At the provincial level, the Jiangxi Province’s Christian Union held a meeting in Nanchang on February 25, 2025, reaffirming comprehensive supervision over religious activities. The meeting emphasized that all churches must implement the government-mandated “Comprehensive and Strict Governance of Religion” policy to ensure the advancement of the “Sinicization of Christianity” process.
Pastor Yao Baoshan, president of the Jiangxi Provincial Christian Council, stated that the organization had established a special “Church Values Committee” responsible for monitoring religious activities to ensure compliance with the national political stance.
Local level intervention
At the same time, local governments and churches have been collaborating to hold similar governance meetings, further narrowing the space for religious freedom.
For example, the Ji’an City Christian Council held a meeting on February 21, 2025, stressing that religious activities must be conducted “in accordance with laws and regulations” while strictly limiting the speech and actions of religious figures.
Additionally, on March 10, Yichun’s Jesus Church held a meeting where local United Front Work Department officials explicitly demanded the enforcement of policies such as “minors are not allowed to participate in religious activities” and the “strict prohibition of illegal religious publications,” further restricting religious influence on young people.
Catholic and Daoist Spheres Intervention
In the Catholic sphere, Jiangxi Province’s Catholic “Two Associations” (the Chinese Patriotic Association and the Chinese Catholic educational administration committee) held a meeting in Nanchang on March 3, where attendees emphasized the need to further strengthen government control over religious groups to ensure alignment with “socialist core values.” Meanwhile, the Jiangxi Daoist Association also held a similar meeting, demonstrating that the government is applying a uniform strategy of control across different religions.
Heightened Surveillance over Religious Affairs in Jiangxi province
These measures indicate that Jiangxi’s religious policies have entered a phase of heightened surveillance, with religious freedom facing unprecedented restrictions. The officially established “Provincial Religious Organizations Comprehensive Governance Inspection System” has essentially become a mechanism for political scrutiny, preventing religious groups from deviating from the ideological framework set by the government.
Looking at the bigger picture, the Jiangxi government is using “Comprehensive and Strict Governance of Religion” as a means to further weaken the independence of religious groups, turning them into extensions of state policy.
This not only impacts freedom of belief and religion but also poses a serious challenge to the autonomous development of religious organizations. In the future, how religious groups navigate survival and development in an increasingly restrictive political environment will be a crucial issue worthy of concern.
(Reported by Special Correspondent Gao Zhensai of ChinaAid)
