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The Amity Foundation (simplified Chinese: 爱德基金会; traditional Chinese: 愛德基金會; pinyin: Àidé Jījīn Huì) is an independent Chinese voluntary organization. As of 2010 it is the largest charity in China. It was created in 1985 on the initiative of Christians in China with the late Bishop K. H. Ting as its founder. Its main objective has been to help develop poorer areas of the country. Amity's headquarters are in Nanjing. The organization includes the Amity Printing Company (APC, also sometimes called Amity Printing Press), the largest Bible producer in China.
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Ideals
Some have described Amity as a faith-initiated organization that works with Christians, while others, such as the current General Secretary Qiu Zhonghui, has described it as a faith-based organization. Various partner organizations have praised the work and activity of the charity. Recently the charitable organisation has been highlighted in both domestic and international media for its action and prompt relief work in China in response to natural disasters.
Activities
Amity Printing Company (APC)
The Amity Printing Company (APC, Chinese: 爱德印刷有限公司) in Nanjing is the largest producer of Bibles in China, and one of the largest in the world. Partly in cooperation with the United Bible Societies, since 1987 it has published Bibles in Mandarin and in several ethnic minority languages, as well as in many other languages for export.
The APC has so far published more than 100 million Bibles. Most of the Bibles printed are the Chinese Union Version (Chinese: 和合本, 1919), the Chinese Bible translation used by the Protestant churches, or the less commonly accepted but more modern Today's Chinese Version. Recently the Pastoral Bible used by the Catholic churches has also been printed here. All Chinese Bibles are distributed not by the state-run bookstore chains (such as Xinhua Bookstore), but through the network of officially registered Protestant churches.