Protestant pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, founder of one of China's largest unofficial evangelical churches, has been released from detention and arrived in Los Angeles on 4 July 2026, less than two months after US President Donald Trump raised his case directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Jin, also known as Ezra Jin, had been held in detention centres in the southern Chinese city of Beihai since October 2025, when he was arrested alongside dozens of other church leaders and members in what Christian rights groups described as one of the most sweeping crackdowns on a single congregation in China in decades.

Jin founded the Zion Church in Beijing in 2007 with just 20 members. It grew into a sprawling network of some 10,000 followers across 40 Chinese cities, making it one of the country's largest unregistered Protestant congregations. Chinese authorities formally banned the church in 2018 after it refused to install government-mandated security cameras on its premises. The church subsequently moved much of its activity online, holding services via video calls — a practice that expanded significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Jin himself returned to China to remain with his congregation after his family relocated abroad, and had been subject to a travel ban for years. According to his daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, he had not seen two of his young sons for more than seven years.

ChinaAid, a US-based Christian rights organisation that monitors religious persecution in China, confirmed Jin's safe arrival and said Chinese officials had indicated that his release resulted from discussions between the two presidents and was intended as a gesture of goodwill timed to coincide with American Independence Day. Trump told reporters after his May state visit to Beijing that he had raised the pastor's case with Xi, who said he would "strongly consider" the matter. Jin's family issued a statement expressing gratitude to both the Trump administration and Xi personally, saying: "We know that this could not have happened without the direct intervention from Chairman Xi Jinping. We hope this is a signal of a positive turn for people of faith in China and relations between our two nations." China's foreign ministry has not officially commented.

Why this matters: Jin's release offers a rare example of a diplomatic concession by Beijing on religious freedom, a subject on which it rarely acknowledges outside pressure. China's constitution formally recognises freedom of religious belief but does not enshrine the broader concept of religious freedom, and the ruling Communist Party has historically viewed organised religion — particularly unofficial groups — as a potential challenge to its authority. Under Xi, that scrutiny has intensified: in September 2025, China introduced new rules restricting religious activity on social media, including banning live-streamed sermons on the messaging platform WeChat. Rights advocates cautioned that Jin's release should not obscure a broader pattern of ongoing repression. ChinaAid noted that eight members of the Zion Church remain incarcerated, along with countless other religious practitioners across China. In recent weeks, authorities raided a service of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Sichuan province and removed the cross from a church in Zhejiang, suggesting that individual releases have not signalled any systemic shift in policy.