Prostitution in China of such measures was to gradually reduce the number of brothels in each city until the point where a "Beijing-style" closure of the remaining brothels was deemed feasible and reeducation could begin. Reeducation programs were undertaken on the largest scale in Shanghai, where the number of sex workers had grown to 100,000 following the Second Sino-Japanese War. By the early 1960s, such measures had basically wiped out visible forms of prostitution from mainland China. According to the People's Republic of China (PRC) government, venereal diseases were almost completely eliminated from the mainland contemporaneously with the control of prostitution. To mark
Catholic Church in China in 2011 there are nine million Catholics on the mainland, 5.7 million of whom are affiliated with the CPA. Hebei Province has the largest Catholic Christian population in China, with 1 million Church members according to the local government. Generally, Catholic institutions are dominant in North and Central regions of China. The Catholic Church is allowed to operate freely in Macau and Hong Kong. In fact, Donald Tsang, the former Chief Executive of Hong Kong, is a Catholic. Pope John Paul II was, however, denied a visit (which was deemed "inappropriate") to Hong Kong in 1999, by then Chief Executive,