Despite reports surrounding the persecution of Christians amidst recent enhanced religious regulations, the nation is still predicted to overtake the United States and South America as the world’s largest Christian nation by the end of the decade.

With a population of over 1.4 billion, China currently sits as the second most populous nation in the world, with 58 million identifying as Christians.

According to CBN, this figure looks likely to increase to a total of 247 million Christians across the different denominations, which would secure the title as the most populous Christian nation globally.

Although currently an atheist country with strong roots in both communism and capitalism, Christianity has been on the rise, perhaps in part due to the impact of the nation’s strong adherence to communism.

The forecast was originally put forward in 2014 by sociologist Fenggang Yang, who stated that the global Christian landscape would change, according to The News International. 

These predictions have been met with skepticism from some due to the recent release of data that shows a slowing in church growth in China, although experts have stated this could quite be due to pressures from the state rather than an accurate depiction of Christian activity.

Following the death of Mao, chairman of the Communist Party, the number of Christians increased with the reopening of many churches, stated the outlet, which suggests the link between state intervention and public declaration of Christianity is strong.

“Mao thought he could eliminate religion," said Yang, but there is a "growing underground church movement that can’t be contained”.