12 translations of the Holy Quran in the Chinese language have been published so far.
There are also two renderings of the Holy Book published in China in the Uyghur and Kazakh languages.
The Quran (in original Arabic) was first printed in China in 1862.
Later during the latter years of the rule of Ming Dynasty, translation of the Quran began but no one rendered the entire Holy Book into Chinese.
Before that, it was believed that the Quran should not be translated because Arabic is the language of Islam and, therefore, all Muslims need to learn it.
Others, however, said it is alright to translate the Quran because it has already been rendered into many languages by non-Arab Muslims.
The first Chinese rendering of Islam's Holy Scripture was completed and printed in the 1930s.
Though concentrated in western China, Islam is practiced across the country.
Ten ethnic groups in China, including Uyghurs, Salars, Kazakhs, Tatars, Tajiks and Uzbeks adhere to Islam.
The religion is said to have first begun to spread in China as early as the 8th century A.D. through trade with Muslim lands.
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