Two Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders met with academic and government leaders during a recent four-day visit to Beijing, China.  The spirit in the informal meetings, held May 3 to 7, was “positive and cordial,” says John Graz, public affairs director for the Adventist Church worldwide. Graz, along with Tadaomi Shinmyo, public affairs director for the church in the northern Asia-Pacific region, met with the director of the Institute for the Study of Christian Culture of Renmin (People’s) University of China, and with officials from the Bureau of Religious Affairs of the People’s Government in the Beijing Municipality.

“We talked about current issues in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere,” says Graz, who adds that future visits will be scheduled to study the possibility of a joint academic symposium with the university. 

Many Adventists in China are part of the Three Self Patriotic Movement, the country’s only official Protestant organization.  There are an estimated 300,000 baptized Adventists in China, meeting in some 760 Adventist congregations.

Graz met with a group of more than 1,000 Adventist believers in Beijing, which included some 300 who were preparing for baptism. There are more than 15 million Protestant Christians in China worshiping under the umbrella of the Three Self Patriotic Movement.