Freedom of Religion: Excerpted from the 2011 Annual Report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China

The Chinese government continued in the past reporting year to restrict Chinese citizens' freedom of religion. China's Constitution guarantees freedom of religious belief but limits protections for religious practice to "normal religious activities," a term applied in a manner that falls short of international human rights protections for freedom of religion. The government continued to recognize only five religions-Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism, and Taoism-and required groups belonging to these religions to register with the government. Registered groups received some legal protection for their religious activities but remained subject to ongoing state controls.