China, Religions Told to Strictly Enforce New Rules on Dealing with Foreigners

A conference in Beijing insisted that the regulations that came into force on May 1 should be strictly adhered to.

By Lai Mingxia

July 9, 2025

The 30th meeting of the National Religious Groups Joint Conference. From Weibo.

The 30th meeting of the National Religious Groups Joint Conference was held in Beijing on June 30, 2025. It served as a platform to coordinate the enforcement of the April 1 “Implementation Rules of the Regulations on the Administration of Religious Activities of Foreigners in the People’s Republic of China.” 

Chen Ruifeng, Deputy Minister of the CPC Central Committee’s United Front Work Department and Director of the State Administration of Religious Affairs, delivered the keynote speech. Other speakers included Yan Jue, President of the China Buddhist Association; Li Guangfu, President of the China Taoist Association; Yang Faming, President of China Islamic Association; Li Shan, Chairman of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association; and Xu Xiaohong, Chairman of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement.

The conference emphasized the importance of studying Xi Jinping’s thought on the rule of law as applied to religious work and educating religious communities about the Implementation Rules.

On April 1, the State Administration for Religious Affairs introduced Order No. 23, a comprehensive regulation governing foreigners’ religious activities in China. It consolidates previous scattered provisions into a unified framework and came into force on May 1.

China’s religion management approach is straightforward: only activities conducted by the five authorized religions, under the oversight of the United Front Work Department, are considered legal. These government-controlled religions are expected to operate independently, without unauthorized foreign interactions. Religious activities by foreigners—unless part of official delegations invited by CCP-controlled religious officials—are generally viewed with suspicion, discouraged, and tightly regulated.

The new regulation aims to address issues related to unregulated visits by Chinese diaspora Christians and other Asian nationals, as well as exchanges between domestic and overseas Buddhist and Taoist temples. It simplifies enforcement by unifying existing norms. While it does not introduce many new rules, it imposes more detailed and stricter requirements for inviting foreigners to conduct religious activities. Such invitations, only permitted for the five authorized religions, must be supported by extensive documentation and prior approval. Even religious retreats and activities organized by foreigners in Chinese temples require pre-authorization and supervision by representatives of the relevant authorized religion.

Jietai Buddhist Temple, Beijing. Credits.

Importing religious books and materials from abroad is now heavily restricted. Foreign preachers in China must submit their sermons for approval beforehand. The regulation also addresses forms of religion outside the five authorized groups, like Hinduism and Judaism, which have small communities in China. For members of these religions, conducting religious activities in China is highly difficult unless they have publicly shown friendliness to China, yet they still face significant bureaucratic challenges.

The CCP now wants to make sure these rules are strictly adhered to.

The Beijing conference attendees included members of the resident teams of national religious groups, secretaries-general (directors-general), and major leaders of the National Association of YMCA and YWCA of China.

Source: bitterwinter.org