Shanxi Human Rights Defender Hao Jinsong, Sentenced to 9 Years, Spends His 54th Birthday in Prison

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On October 14, 2026, this site learned that yesterday (October 13, 2026), Hao Jinsong, a prominent legal professional and human rights defender from Shanxi who was sentenced to 9 years, spent his 54th birthday in prison.

Since 2004, Hao Jinsong has handled numerous cases concerning people’s livelihood and rights, including industry monopolies and environmental pollution. He helped advance the case against fare increases by the Ministry of Railways during the Spring Festival travel rush and became involved in the Yang Jia case, among others. As a rights defender, he was included in the China Rule of Law Blue Book for two consecutive years; he was arrested on December 17, 2019; on July 20, 2023, he was sentenced to 9 years for “fraud” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” He is currently serving his sentence at Taiyuan No. 2 Prison in Shanxi Province.

Hao Jinsong: Born on October 13, 1972, he is from Dingxiang County, Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province, holds a Master of Laws degree from China University of Political Science and Law, is a researcher at the Legal Public Interest Research Center, was one of China’s “Top Ten Legal Figures” for 2005, and is known as a “litigation maniac,” a spokesperson for rights defense, and a prominent public-interest lawyer.

Since 2004, Hao Jinsong has sued the State Taxation Administration, Beijing Subway Operation Company, and Beijing Railway Bureau in court seven times. He was selected as one of the “Ten Most Respected Figures in Building a Harmonious Economy in 2004” for “playing a certain role in breaking industry ‘unfair terms.’” Hao Jinsong was nominated for the 2005 China Legal News Figure and the 2005 Top Ten Legal Figures, and was included in the China Rule of Law Blue Book 2005 as a “rights defender.”

For his involvement in advancing the case against fare increases by the Ministry of Railways during the Spring Festival travel rush, he was included in the China Rule of Law Blue Book 2006 and named one of China’s Top Ten Consumer Rights Defenders of 2006. In 2008, for his involvement in the Shaanxi South China tiger case and the Yang Jia case, he was named “China’s Charismatic Figure—The Charisma of Justice” by Southern People Weekly. In 2009, he became involved in Shanghai’s “fishing law enforcement incident.” He later established the Jinsong Legal Affairs Consulting Center in Dingxiang County, Shanxi. In 2017, Hao Jinsong reported by his real name to the Dingxiang County Environmental Protection Bureau that the local Chengtai Textile Dyeing and Printing Company was suspected of polluting the air and water.

After being summoned for two consecutive days, on December 10 and 11, 2019, by the police station in Jinchang Town, Dingxiang County, Shanxi Province, his registered place of residence, on the grounds of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” Hao Jinsong was summoned again by the same police station on December 17, 2019. He was subsequently placed in administrative detention for 15 days. On January 2, 2020, after his administrative detention ended, he was transferred to criminal detention on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. That day, Hao Jinsong was placed in criminal detention by the Dingxiang County Public Security Bureau on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. He was held at the Wutai County Detention Center.

The case was not tried for a long time and was repeatedly delayed until the Dingxiang County Court in Shanxi held a hearing on October 12 and 13, 2021. More than a year after the hearing, on July 20, 2023, Hao Jinsong, a prominent public-interest lawyer and legal scholar who had been held beyond the statutory detention period for more than 1,200 days, was sentenced to 8 years for fraud and 1 year and 9 months for picking quarrels and provoking trouble, with a combined sentence of 9 years’ imprisonment. He appealed, but on October 12, 2023, the second-instance court rejected the appeal and upheld the original verdict. His sentence is due to end on January 1, 2029. In May 2024, Hao Jinsong was transferred to Taiyuan No. 2 Prison in Shanxi Province to serve his sentence.

This site will continue to follow Hao Jinsong’s situation in prison.