On 8 December, a celebration will be held in Nanjing, China, to celebrate the printing of the 50 millionth Bible at the Amity Printing Company (APC), which was printed on 11 September this year.

The United Bible Societies (UBS) and Amity Foundation (AF) will sign an agreement during the celebration to extend the Joint Venture Agreement between the two of them for another ten years, reports APD Switzerland .

UBS and AF first began the APC as a joint venture in 1988 and the current agreement is set to expire in June 2008.

Ten years after the Cultural Revolution, Amity Press was established in Nanjing and its first Bible was printed in 1987. Since then over 50 million Bibles have been printed there. Forty-two million of these were distributed in mainland China, whilst the remaining eight million were exported to over 60 different countries.

"What has happened to the Bible in China is a miracle," said the UBS China Partnership Coordinator, Kua Wee Send, according to APD Switzerland.

"Just over 40 years ago, during the Cultural Revolution, the Bible was banned and all copies were confiscated. But today there are more Bibles than any other book in China - it is unofficially the best-selling book there.

"Only God can make a thing like that happen, because God works through the Chinese authorities, through the Church in China, through the Bible Societies and through each and every donor."

China is believed to have one of the fastest growing Christian populations in the world. Officially there are thought to be around 22 million Christians in China, unofficially the number could be as much as four times higher.

Restrictions on religion were loosened in China after the 1970s. Since then Christianity has grown significantly, although the official churches in the country are still subject to government control and regulations.

According to APD Switzerland, a recent survey of 4,500 people conducted by the East China Normal University in Shanghai, suggested that 31.4 per cent of Chinese people over the age of 16 would consider themselves religious. Of those profesing to be religious, around 12 per cent were Christian.