Founder of prominent underground church released from prison in China

The founder of one of China’s most prominent underground churches has been released from prison and reunited with his family in the United States.

Ezra Jin, the founder of Zion Church, landed in the US on Friday evening. He was one of dozens of church members who were detained in a sweeping crackdown on Christians in October.

“We truly witnessed a miracle and we are feeling overwhelmed with joy,” Jin’s family said in a statement. “We thank God for this tremendous miracle. We also thank President Trump and his administration for their tremendous leadership.”

China’s ministry of foreign affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jin’s release is a rare case of China releasing one of its own citizens, apparently in response to lobbying from the US. In 2024, David Lin, an American pastor of Chinese origins, was released from prison after 20 years after lobbying by the state department.

Jin’s case was raised by Donald Trump on his visit to Beijing in May. The US president said that Xi Jinping, China’s president, was “seriously considering” releasing pastors jailed in China, while saying that progress on other detained figures, such as the British citizen Jimmy Lai, was harder.

Jin’s wife and children are in the US and have repeatedly appealed to the US government and to Trump directly to secure Jin’s release. Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, testified before congress in November. Trump later described her as a “beautiful daughter” and promised to raise Jin’s case with Xi.

Jin, a Chinese citizen, is one of the most recognisable faces of China’s underground church movement. He founded Zion Church in 2007. In 2018, the church’s physical location in Beijing was forced to close, but the group later moved to online sermons that allowed them to extend their reach to thousands of members.

Christianity is legal in China but worship is only permitted in government-controlled churches. In 2018, the government said there were 44 million Christians in China but other estimates, which included unregistered believers, put the number at about 130 million.

Many Christians shun government-controlled churches and prefer to worship in underground groups such as Zion, also known as “house churches”.

In the past year, China launched a major crackdown on house churches. In January, members of Early Rain church, another prominent group, were detained. In June, an Early Rain gathering in Sichuan in south-west China was raided by police with reports of more than 30 people being taken for questioning.

Several members of Zion Church remain in detention. Last month, the cases of nine members, including Jin, were transferred to prosecutors on charges of illegal business operations and fraud. Nine others were released on bail pending trial.