At a meeting with Protestant leaders in Hong Kong, Wang Zuo'an, head of China's State Administration for Religious Affairs, said church communities must be registered in China for their protection.

Wang said the government wants an accurate tally of the country's more than 20 million Christians (16 million of whom worship in registered churches), but fears this could be misinterpreted.

Yu Jie said the house church where he is a member in Beijing is willing to register with civil authorities, but it would be "unconstitutional" and "interfering with citizens' religious freedom" to register with the religious affairs administration.