The Communist Party of China attacked the predictions published by The Telegraph that China could become the largest Christian congregation in the world. This is a sign that Beijing is wary about the rapid growth of Christianity in the region.

Fenggang Yang, a well-known religion expert in China, said that the number of Chinese Protestants could hit the 160-million mark by 2025. He also said the total number of Christians in the country could go past 247 million by 2030. These numbers would put China above the US, Mexico,and Brazil as the world's largest Christian community.

Like Us on Facebook

This prediction has not been received well by the Communist Party. Many of China's senior leaders fear that a church gaining power could affect their ability to rule over the country.

Ye Xiaowen, a senior member at the Central Committee of the Communist Party, labeled the predictions as "unscientific" and "obviously inflated."

Ye was quoted by The Telegraph saying:  "China advocates religious freedom and has no objection to people's right to follow any religion, but it hopes they can proactively integrate into society."

The Global Times cited Ye saying: "It is completely meaningless to predict how many people might believe in Christianity in China in the future."

In the last three years, religious practice and Christianity has experienced rapid growth with people looking to step away from communism. According to Professor Yang, there is already a "serious shortage" of churches in China.

Based on a study by the Peking University, China had 26 million Protestants in 2012. However, some members of the country's "house church" movement maintain that the real number of Protestants reach 80 million because most of them are only able to practice their religion in underground churches.

Activists believe that local churches in the Zhejiang province are being targeted by government officials. They believe fast-growing churches are the subject of the officials' demolition campaign.