This is a list of notable Protestant missionaries in China by agency. Beginning with the arrival of Robert Morrison in 1807 and ending in 1953 with the departure of Arthur Matthews and Dr. Rupert Clark of the China Inland Mission, thousands of foreign Protestant missionaries and their families, lived and worked in China to spread Christianity, establish schools, and work as medical missionaries.
In 1900, with a Protestant missionary presence in China of about 2,500, 1,400 of the missionaries were British, 1,000 were Americans, and 100 were from continental Europe, mostly Scandinavia. By 1926, about one half of the Protestant missionaries were American. The United Kingdom provided most of the remaining one-half with substantial numbers from Canada, Australia, Germany, and Scandinavia. Approximately 160 Protestant missionary societies were present in China with a variety of functions including education and medicine as well as proselytizing. Only about a dozen of the missionary societies had a large presence.
1926 was the peak year for the number of Protestant missionaries assigned to China. About 8,000 missionaries were in the country. Latourette estimates that in 1926, 3,000 Protestant missionaries were men, 2,400 were wives, and 2,600 were unmarried women. Of that 8,000 about 1,500 were on leave in their home countries, leaving about 6,500 missionaries in-country at that time. Civil war and internal strive caused a reduction in their numbers after 1926.
The Protestant missionaries began with a base of zero converts to Chistianity in 1807 which increased to about 500,000 Chinese converts in the 1930s. By contrast, Roman Catholic missionaries in China totalled about 3,100 and they had about two million converts. Catholic missionaries had been working in the country since the 16th century. There was little contact between the Protestant and Catholic missionaries.
A list of missionaries of the Episcopal Church (United States) a member Province of the worldwide Anglican Communion that served in China from 1835.
In 1912, Episcopal Church missionary activities in China were reorganized with Anglican mission initiatives of the Church of England and other Anglican provinces under the banner of the Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui.