Xi’an, Shaanxi Province — September 8, 2026 — Chinese authorities have released a pastor whose unregistered house church has faced a four-year legal case, while the status of the case and the other defendants remains unclear.
Pastor Lian Xuliang returned home Sept. 5, according to Weiquanwang, a group that monitors human rights in China. Lian is pastor of the Xi’an Church of Abundance, located in Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi Province in north-central China.
Lian’s release comes more than four years after Chinese authorities began proceedings against him, his father, Pastor Lian Changnian, and preacher Fu Juan. As previously reported by ChinaAid News, the three have faced allegations of fraud related to their church ministry.
The Church of Abundance was founded in the early 1990s. Lian Xuliang was ordained as a pastor in fall 2021. His father, Lian Changnian, serves as a senior pastor in Henan’s China Gospel Fellowship, an underground church network in China.
On Aug. 17, 2022, the Chanba Ecological District Branch of the Xi’an Municipal Public Security Bureau placed Lian Changnian, Lian Xuliang and Fu Juan under residential surveillance at a designated location, or RSDL, on suspicion of “fraud.” During their residential surveillance, all three reportedly experienced varying degrees of torture and mistreatment.
Two days later, the Xi’an Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau announced that the Church of Abundance was banned. Authorities said the church and its affiliated network were not registered and had conducted activities as a social organization without authorization, making it an illegal social organization.
In March 2023, Lian Changnian, Lian Xuliang and Fu Juan were formally arrested with the approval of the procuratorate. On April 12, 2025, authorities changed their compulsory measures, placing them under RSDL and releasing them on bail pending trial.
On July 9, 2025, a local court in Xi’an heard the case but did not issue a verdict. On Nov. 2, while the defendants were awaiting a verdict, authorities detained all three again.
Lian Changnian, who was 71 and undergoing hospital treatment because of deteriorating health at the time, was taken from his home and detained at the Weiyang District Detention Center in Xi’an. It remains unclear whether the case against the three defendants is still pending and what legal status the other two defendants now have.
In recent years, Chinese authorities have intensified efforts to control house churches that are not officially registered. Fraud and other economic-related charges have also been used in cases involving house church pastors and church offerings, according to reports documenting the treatment of unofficial religious groups.
As of publication, Xi’an authorities and judicial officials have not issued a public response regarding Lian Xuliang’s release or explained the status of the case.
Founded in 2002, ChinaAid is an international Christian human rights organization committed to promoting religious freedom and the rule of law in China through advocacy, legal support, and international awareness campaigns.