Chinese underground church leader Jin Mingri has been released from prison and has travelled to the United States, weeks after his detention was raised directly by US President Donald Trump during talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Jin, also known as Ezra Jin, is the founder of the Zion Church, one of China’s largest unregistered Christian churches. He was arrested following overnight raids across the country in October, in what Christian groups described as one of the toughest crackdowns on religious activity in modern Chinese history.
His family announced his release in a statement, saying they were overwhelmed with joy.
“We truly witnessed a miracle and we are feeling so overwhelmed with joy,” the family said.
They also thanked Trump and his administration for helping secure his freedom.
“We thank President Trump and the Trump administration for their tremendous leadership,” the statement said. “We know this could not have happened without the direct intervention from Xi Jinping.”
The family added that they hoped the development would mark a new chapter for religious freedom in China and improve relations between Beijing and Washington.
China’s Foreign Ministry has not commented publicly on Jin’s release.
US-based rights group ChinaAid confirmed that Jin had arrived in Los Angeles after leaving China.
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ChinaAid founder Bob Fu welcomed the development but said many others remain behind bars.
“Countless religious believers, including eight members of Zion Church, are still imprisoned in China,” Fu said.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of lawmakers from several Western countries, also welcomed the news, describing Jin’s release as encouraging.
Trump revealed after his state visit to Beijing in May that he had personally appealed to Xi to free Jin.
“He said he’s gonna strongly consider the pastor,” Trump told reporters after the meeting.
The US president also raised the case of Hong Kong media owner Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced earlier this year to 20 years in prison under the city’s national security law.
Jin founded Zion Church in 2007 with about 20 members. Over the years, it grew into one of China’s largest underground churches, with a network of around 10,000 worshippers across 40 cities.
Chinese authorities banned the church in 2018 after it refused government demands to install surveillance cameras inside its Beijing premises.
Since then, many of its branches have been investigated and shut down as authorities tightened control over religious groups.
China officially promotes atheism and requires Christians to worship in state-approved churches led by government-recognised pastors.
Last October, authorities detained about 30 church leaders during coordinated overnight raids. Another crackdown followed in January, when nine members of a separate church were arrested.
