Eighteen leaders of a major underground Christian church in China have been officially arrested, a Christian NGO advocate has confirmed. Their arrest means they will now face trial and could receive prison sentences of up to three years. This comes after China carried out its biggest crackdown on Christians since 2018, during which nearly 30 pastors and staff members from Zion Church—an unregistered “house church”—were detained across the country in mid-October. Among those still being held in detention centres in the southern city of Beihai is the church’s founder, Pastor Jin Mingri.
Beihai police could not be reached for comment, and China’s Ministry of Public Security did not respond to a fax seeking information. Although five detainees were released in October and another four support staff were granted bail around 10 November, the remaining 18 have now been formally charged with “illegally using information networks.” This information came from Bob Fu, founder of the Christian NGO ChinaAid, who is in close contact with the families of the detained pastors and Zion Church leaders. The offence carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.
In China, after a suspect is detained, formal arrest signals the start of a criminal investigation that may take more than a year in complicated cases before going to trial. Jin, who is 56, was able to meet with his lawyer on 14 October after the case drew international media attention, his daughter Grace Jin said. She previously told Reuters that the family is concerned about his health—he needs diabetes medication—and about whether detainees can access legal support.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticised the arrests last month and demanded the immediate release of those held. The operation against Zion Church came one month after China’s top religious authority introduced new regulations banning unauthorised online preaching, unapproved religious training, and any form of “foreign collusion.”
Official statistics indicate that China has more than 44 million Christians registered under state-approved churches, mostly Protestant. But NGOs and research groups estimate that tens of millions more worship in unregistered “house churches” that operate independently of the Communist Party’s control.
Zion Church, which has nearly 5,000 regular worshippers in almost 50 cities, grew quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic through Zoom services and small in-person meetings. Jin, also known as Ezra, founded the church in 2007 after leaving China’s state-controlled Protestant church. A spokesperson said Jin, a Peking University graduate, became a Christian after witnessing the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.
Authorities shut down Zion Church’s Beijing building in 2018 as part of a broader campaign against large house churches. Earlier this year, police also briefly detained 11 pastors from the church, a spokesperson previously told Reuters.
Source: Independent (UK) on November 20, 2025.
