There was an increase in the number of reported persecution cases against Christians in China last year, according to a religious freedom group that specialises in Chinese house churches.

In its “Annual 2009 Persecution Report”, ChinaAid Association revealed a 19 per cent increase in number of Christian persecution cases compared to data from 2008. The US-based group emphasised, however, that the report is based on only a small portion of the total number of persecution cases that took place in mainland China last year because many incidents go unreported.

The report defines persecution as acts involving, but not limited to, threats, inordinate fines, property confiscation, interrogation, arrest and other abuses.

In 2009, ChinaAid recorded 77 total cases of persecution against house churches that affected nearly 3,000 people – 45 per cent more than in 2008.

The total number of people arrested, meanwhile, was 389, and the number of those sentenced to jail 23. A total of 114 people were reportedly abused in 2009 – up by 90 percent from 2008.

ChinaAid noted persecution in 2009 particularly increased in large cities and among megachurches. Among the 77 reported cases of persecution in mainland China, 56 of them occurred in urban areas.

In its report, the ministry acknowledged that the reason for the high number of persecution reports from urban areas could perhaps be that people have greater access to communication tools to report their persecution than those living in rural areas.

“[But] it may well reflect a policy of the central government according to which maintaining stability in urban areas is key to the whole country’s stability,” the report noted.