Chinese Pastor Released Following Trump’s Request for Release

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A Chinese house church pastor has been released from a prison in China on Independence Day following discussions between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The Texas-based Christian advocacy group ChinaAid reported that Jin was sent to the United States after he was released from jail on Saturday and has since been reunited with his family.

“We rejoice with Pastor Ezra Jin, his family, and the global Body of Christ on this remarkable Independence Day miracle,” said Rev. Dr. Bob Fu, Founder and President of ChinaAid. “We thank Almighty God for hearing the prayers of His people. We are deeply grateful to President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and all U.S. officials who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to secure Pastor Jin’s freedom. Their unwavering commitment demonstrates that principled leadership and persistent diplomacy can make a life-saving difference.”

As reported by The Christian Post, Jim founded Zion Church in 2007 and graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary in California.

In 2018, the church had more than 10,000 members using online platforms (Zoom, YouTube, WeChat) after physical premises were shut down. Meanwhile, Jin and 17 other Zion Church leaders were detained in October 2025 in what was considered China's largest single-church crackdown in decades.

Despite Jin’s release, however, Fu noted that several other Chinese pastors remain in prison.

“While we celebrate Pastor Jin’s freedom, our hearts remain with the countless pastors, including 8 other jailed pastors and coworkers from Zion Church, priests, bishops, house church Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, and other prisoners of conscience who remain unjustly imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party,” Fu said.

“We respectfully call on President Trump and his Administration to continue making religious freedom and the release of all prisoners of faith a top priority in every engagement with Beijing. True progress in U.S.-China relations must include freedom for those imprisoned simply because they choose to believe,” he concluded.

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.