URUMQI, Sept. 24(Xinhuanet)-- The Chinese government has been earnestly carrying out its policy of free religious belief and fully guarantees the rights of believers of various religions, said a senior official in charge of religious affairs.

The elements of various religions have evolved into parts of traditional Chinese culture and ideology and have been enjoying unrestrained development in China, said Abiz Piyaz, director of the nationalities and religious affairs committee of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

China currently has more than 100 million religious believers who believe in Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, Catholicism and Islam.

The diversity of regions has been favorably maintained in the country, the official added.

According to Abiz Piyaz, the Chinese government and various local authorities have appropriated huge funds for the maintenanceof religious remains.

For instance, the China State Bureau of Cultural Relics has injected 420 million yuan(about 50.6 million US dollars) this year into the maintenance and protection of cultural relics along the ancient"Silk Road" in Xinjiang, mostly to preserve religious remains, the official said.

Taking the country as a whole, more than 100,000 religious services facilities are being protected, he cited a national survey as saying.

Turpan, in Xinjiang, has long been a confluence of Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Moreover, other religions such as Manicheanism, Shamanism and Daoism all have roots in the place.

Xinjiang has been the epitome of China's diversified religious cultures, said Hartifu, a senior clergy with the Eidkah Mosque in Kashi city.

He acknowledged that various religions have freedom of expression in Xinjiang, which so far has 24,000 arenas for religious activities, 26,800 religious staff and more than 9 million religious believers, accounting for 56.3 percent of the Xinjiang's total population.

Plenty of religious facilities have met the needs of believers who are quickly increasing in number.

For example, the region's Christians have grown from 1,000 in 1949 to the present 50,000, with churches and arenas increasing from over 20 to 91.

The Eidkah Mosque in Kashi city has been repaired and renovatedfour times in recent decades with enormous funds from the Chinese government and local authorities, said the Hartifu. And new facilities serving the religious activities have been added in themosque.

Significantly, religious personnel enjoy full respect in China politically and socially, Piyax calimed. One hundred and fifty-three religious staffers in Xinjiang have been elected to the local committees of the CPPCC(the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) above the county level.

Governments at various levels have paid close attention to the proposals and suggestions set forth by personnel from religious circles.

To encourage more people to engage in religious undertakings, Xinjiang has run a series of courses for the religious staff. More than 21,000 people have taken such courses in the past four years since 2001. Enditem