My choice today is to overview the role that religion plays in China today.  But first, a  quick look at the country : Has 1.45 billion people, more than any country, although India has 1.42 billion.  The United Nations projects that  India will surpass China next year .   Incidentally, the world population is expected to reach 8 billion by November 15 of this year.  However, the global growth rate fell below 1% in 2020, the slowest growth pace since 1950.  Further, this same UN report said that life expectancy was 72.8 in 2020, but, because of the pandemic, dropped to 71 in 2021 There are 5% more males than females.  Why?  Males are more desired and there is sex-selective abortion. Is the third largest country in land mass.  #1 is Russia, #2 is Canada and #4 is the USA, with Brazil #5, Australia #6 and India #7.  I did not know that these countries were that large:  Argentina #8, Kazakhstan #9 and Algeria #10.   Note that Antarctica is really #2, but is not a country. The pandemic has