Researchers Reveal the Most Prevalent Faith Among Young People in China — and It's Not Christianity

The most prevalent faith among young people under the age of 30 in China is Islam, according to new research released by the National Survey Research Center at Renmin University in Beijing, China.

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Experts who conducted the China Religion Survey 2015 found that 22.4 percent of Muslims in the country are below the age of 30, with 22 percent of Catholics also falling under this age range, Christian Today reported.

"Islam tends to have a younger demographic. Most believers of Islam belong to ethnic minority groups and it is common for a woman to give birth to several children," researcher Wei Dedong, a professor of Buddhist studies at the university, told the Global Times. "The children would also become Muslims while it is very rare to have an adult converting to Islam."

There appears to be an age divide, though, in the mainland, where researchers found that Chinese citizens over the age of 60 are more likely to embrace Buddhism or Taoism; nearly 55 percent of Buddhists are in this age range as are nearly 54 percent of Taoists.

China's atheist government has cracked down on Christianity and other faiths in the past, with refugees speaking out about the horrors that they have experienced simply for being religious individuals. As for Islam, the government reportedly curtails Ramadan celebrations as well and has a history of persecuting the Muslim Uighur minority, Newsweek reported.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's 2015 report exposed a country that is still very much restricting human rights.

(H/T: Christian Today)

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