China has been taking concrete measures to protect religious freedom, said Bishop Ding Guangxun, head of the mainland Christian community.

"The recent inclusion of new items to protect human rights in the Constitution indicates that the country is determined to better implement the policy of religious freedom and to ensure that it is guaranteed as a basic human right," he said.

The head bishop made the remark at the opening ceremony in Hong Kong of a biblical exhibition, which features a rare copy of the Imperial Edition of the New Testament Bible and other biblical artefacts from China.

"We have seen encouraging developments on the mainland and improvements in people's democratic rights -- of which religious freedom is a part," he said.

He said both the success of the veneration of the Buddha's finger last May and the current exhibition point to a high degree of religious freedom in the territory and the mainland. "And it is not something unreal," he said.

Calling on society to embrace religious differences, he said: "I believe that in the common cause of enriching the life of human beings, the theists and atheists can work together and the atheists can be our friends instead of enemies.''

"Both the five major religions on the Chinese mainland and the six in Hong Kong are one in the basic truth that human beings have a common need for spiritual orientation," said Ding, who is also vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

"In the same way, the theists and the atheists need not be in a life-and-death relationship, but have mutual respect based on the principle of seeking common ground while keeping differences."

Ding said churches on the mainland will continue to exert positive moral and ethical influences.

"We will continue to express concerns about the global environment we live in and care for the marginalized people in society. This shall be the direction we are heading in," he added.

Meanwhile, president of the China Christian Council, the Reverend Cao Shengjie, said the exhibition is an event of historic significance in the church life of China.

"This is the first time that the churches on the Chinese mainland are hosting an exhibition in Hong Kong. It manifests the love of Chinese Christians for the Bible," she told the Hong Kong church community.

Cao said most Christians on the mainland have the Bible, and read it every day.

"They have raised their literacy levels through Bible reading and drawn strength for their work and for living a positive life," she said.

The Bible was first translated into Chinese in the 19th century, and its publication continued after the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.

According to the China Christian Council, the number of Bibles produced on the mainland amounted to an average of 2.5 million a year in the last 10 years, reflecting the increasing needs of Christians.

Cao said she hoped the exhibition, with the theme "The Lamp unto My Feet, The Light unto My Path", will give visitors a glimpse of the entire process of Bible printing, publication and distribution.

"We are confident that this event will facilitate and contribute to further exchanges between churches in Hong Kong and the mainland," she said.

Organized by China's Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee and the China Christian Council, the Exhibition of Bible Ministry of Churches in China runs until next Tuesday.

"I trust that this exhibition will be a good opportunity for more friends both within and outside the country to truly understand the churches in China," Ding said.

(China Daily August 6, 2004)