Here’s What Thousands of Christian WeChat Accounts Reveal About Chinese Internet Evangelism

Author - Umn ministry

May 14, 2022

Were rampant commercialism and plagiarism more harmful for Chinese Christians than government censorship?

The Chinese government’s latest crackdown on online evangelism has deleted or led to the closure of numerous Christian accounts after new measures took effect on March 1 of this year.

Among them are Jonah’s Home, which for years provided Bible study, evangelism, and discipleship resources for Chinese Christians. Jidian, a Christian apologist and influencer on Zhihu, a Q&A platform, lost nearly 300 Christianity and Bible-related questions he had answered on the website.

These restrictions have intensified since 2018 and crushed hundreds of WeChat public accounts created by evangelical organizations and Christians. Those who attempted to reopen would find their “reincarnated” accounts quickly deleted.

WeChat is a powerful new media outlet that has more than 1.2 billion users worldwide and tens of millions of “public accounts.” Over the past decade, WeChat’s public accounts have been an important platform for Chinese Christians to speak about their faith and communicate the gospel. Prior to 2018, these accounts offered discipleship materials, inspirational messages, and apologetics resources, attracting the followings of millions of Christians and seekers.

In 2017, our Chinese team at ReFrame Ministries commissioned a professional company in China to analyze more than 5,000 WeChat public accounts and study the content and influence of the Christian accounts. This report analyzed and calculated parameters such as the number of reads, likes, Christian-related keywords, and published articles.

Though many Christians and Christian media have left WeChat or lost their accounts recently, we hope that our study can provide useful references for believers, churches, and organizations who are ...