Plans to list on the stock exchange by the manager of iconic Buddhist shrine Putuo Mountain are likely to inflame a row over commercialising important religious sites.
Putuo Mountain Tourism Development confirmed it would soon file a multimillion-yuan initial public offering application to fund further development of the site - an island southeast of Shanghai in Zhejiang - which draws millions of followers of Guanyin, a Bodhisattva, every year.
'We are making the listing plan and expect to submit an application very soon,' an official with the firm who did not wish to be named told the South China Morning Post. 'Lots of details are still being discussed.'
Local governments came under fire in June from the State Administration for Religious Affairs, which said they were increasingly chasing profits by commercialising the country's religious sites.
Liu Wei, an official with the administration, was quoted by Xinhua as saying that temples could not be listed on stock markets.
The Putuo Mountain official said the firm had yet to decide whether temples would be among the assets to be listed. There are more than 300 temples on Putuo Mountain, which is located in the Zhoushan Islands. Putuo is one of four sacred mountains in Chinese Buddhism where followers of Guanyin worship.