The main cathedral of the Catholic diocese of Changzhi, Shanxi province. ZHAO MENGJIAO/CHINA DAILY

The Catholic Church is pushing to reclaim land and properties confiscated more than 40 years ago to extend its reach in China, as Xu Wei and Sun Ruisheng report from Changzhi, Shanxi province

The city of Changzhi in Shanxi province may have lost a notable entrepreneur the day Andrew Jin Daoyuan decided to commit himself to religion and become a priest in the Catholic Church.

Jin, who was ordained as a priest by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association in 1956, and as a bishop in 2000, was instrumental in resurrecting the fortunes of the church in Changzhi diocese after he and other local priests were forced to abandon their spiritual roles and become farmers during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).

Despite Jin's business nous, the rebuilding process was tough. "We started from almost nothing. But I knew that a church without the means to sustain itself financially could never play a full role in society," said the 86-year-old, who serves at the Nantiangong Church in the diocese.

Starting in the late 1980s, Jin used his entrepreneurial skills to take advantage of the business opportunities presented by the government's relaxed attitude toward the CPCA, and started a number of ventures, including a vinegar factory with an annual production volume of 3,000 metric tons, an embroidery factory, and a number of clinics and shops.

Jin believes that dioceses need to be self-financing to a large degree, and that financial security is essential to both the survival of local churches and the quality of the services they offer.

Emphasizing the need for financial independence, Ding Lingbin, secretary-general of the Changzhi Diocese under the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, said, "The church needs to reach out to the people and society, but without a stable source of income, it can do nothing."

However, despite owning a large number of businesses, the diocese is still unable to realize its ambition of building a nursing home for city residents, according to Ding. "The donations made by the congregation are an important part of our income, but they are largely casual and unstable," he said.

Founded in 1890, Changzhi is one of the oldest Catholic dioceses in China, and its estimated 60,000 followers can worship at more than 70 churches spread across the city's urban and rural areas. In the 1990s, the city's Catholics numbered about 50,000, but Christianity, both the Protestant and Catholic denominations, has seen a surge in popularity nationwide in recent years. In 1988, there were 4.5 million Protestants and about 12 million Catholics in China, according to a 2010 report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Since then, the numbers have continued to rise. Wang Zuo'an, head of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, told Study Times that there were at least 23 million Protestants in China in 2013, while the number of Catholics was estimated to be around 5.5 million.

Cao Nanlai, an associate professor of religious studies at Renmin University of China, said the recent rapid expansion of religion has made property rights a central issue for the church. "Christianity is different from Eastern religions in that it requires strong social participation from worshippers, and requires a fixed space for activities, including services and choral singing," he said.