Amity celebrates past and looks to future as 30 millionth Bible printed

NANJING, PR China — As the 30 millionth Bible rolled off the presses of the Amity Printing Company (APC) in December, Chinese Christian leaders and United Bible Societies (UBS) leaders came together to celebrate the provision of Bibles for China’s Christians over the past 15 years. Speakers at the December 11 celebration also took the opportunity to look towards the future of Bible printing in a fast-changing China.

Chinese Christian leaders at the celebration spoke of how the publishing of Bibles is impacting Chinese Christians. The Rev An Xinyi, Chairperson of the Jiangsu Province Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee, spoke of how much Chinese Christians love and hunger for the Bible. This, he said, was evidenced by the distribution of 30 million Scriptures. The Rev Li Lancheng, General Secretary of the Nanjing Christian Council, told the gathering that in his church alone, 700 people have enrolled in Bible study classes.

Speakers at the celebration also commented on the rapid progress of the printing press.

“Since the equipment [for the press] was officially presented in July 1987, and the first Bible came off the press in October of that year, so much has been achieved,” UBS General Secretary Neil Crosbie told the gathering. “I wonder if those who had been at those ceremonies could have imagined that only 15 years later we would be here to celebrate 30 million Bibles, with 27 million copies printed for the Church in China.”

APC, a joint venture set up in 1987 between the Amity Foundation – an organisation founded by Chinese Christians – and UBS, has dramatically increased its annual output of Bibles over the years. In 1988 half a million Bibles were printed, compared to 2.9 million in 1999. This increase has been in response to the growing demand for Scriptures from the Church in China, which has itself experienced rapid growth.

“So much has changed [since APC was set up] – the world in which we now operate, the needs of the Church in China, the technology available and so on,” said Somporn Sirikolkarn, UBS Deputy General Secretary. “With China having joined the World Trade Organisation, there will be greater opportunities for trade and investment to China. It will also give China an even greater opportunity to work globally.

“For APC, this will mean access to more markets and potential customers. I believe that APC will continue to play a key role in the future in meeting the Scripture needs for the fast-growing Christian Church in China…I also believe that the company can be part of the provision of Scripture supplies to other national Bible Societies.”