The Case of Early Rain Covenant Church’s Dai Zhichao Has Been Transferred to the Procuratorate; In Addition to the Charge of Inciting Subversion of State Power, He Is Also Charged with Organizing an Illegal Assembly

(Information Center of the China Human Rights Defense Network report) On July 19, 2026, this website learned that the case of Dai Zhichao of Early Rain Covenant Church has been transferred to the procuratorate. In addition to the charge of inciting subversion of state power, a charge of organizing an illegal assembly has also been added.

Dai Zhichao’s wife, Lu Lingzhi, recently reported: “After half a year, the case has been transferred to the procuratorate. In addition to the charge of inciting subversion of state power, a charge of organizing an illegal assembly has been added. This makes me feel heavy-hearted. The lawyer was able to meet with him successfully yesterday, which gave me some comfort. On behalf of Zhichao, thank you all for your concern. Not being able to be by my side for the birth [of our child] has always been his greatest regret. I pray that the Lord will continue to rule during the coming procuratorate stage.”

Biography of Dai Zhichao: Born in 1990, he is from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, a Christian, a preacher at Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church, a victim of the “Early Rain Covenant Church case,” and a Chinese prisoner of conscience.

He believed in Jesus Christ from his youth; after graduating from university, he first sought employment in Chongqing, but soon in 2013 entered the training program of Liren University, headquartered in Beijing (known as Lida, a private university in mainland China), and attended a week-long course on “Christianity and Political Philosophy” in Chengdu, Sichuan, becoming a student of Pastor Wang Yi; after the training program ended, he returned to Chongqing to continue working, but soon felt called and resolutely resigned, serving full-time at Mount of Olives Reformed Church in Bazhong, Bazhong City; in August 2017, in order to better equip himself, with the support and encouragement of Mount of Olives Church, he began devoutly studying at West China Covenant Theological Seminary in Chengdu. However, in March 2021, Mount of Olives Reformed Church suffered a severe blow during the Chinese Communist authorities’ crackdown. Because it was banned by the Sichuan Provincial Department of Civil Affairs, after graduating from seminary he began serving full-time at Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church as a preacher;

On December 9, 2018, the Early Rain Covenant Church case occurred. More than 100 believers from the church were subjected to mass arrests and summonses by Chengdu police. He was also criminally detained for courageously writing a prayer letter for the church, until he was released on bail pending trial for one year more than three months later. However, the police forcibly sent him to Liangping District, Chongqing Municipality, his wife’s hometown;

In July 2020, he returned to Chengdu with his wife and child; facing the authorities’ severe persecution of the church, he still bravely stood up to participate in church ministry, using his passionate writing, sermons, and experiences of suffering to inspire many people to learn about and accept the gospel that “Christ is Lord, and grace reigns”; however, precisely because of this, beginning in September 2022, he was closely targeted by the Chengdu authorities and placed under long-term house arrest. He was stopped whenever he tried to leave the gates of his residential compound and was even slapped;

On February 12, 2023, when he attempted to leave home to attend a worship service, he was again watched and prevented from doing so by numerous residential-compound staff members downstairs, so he had to participate in online worship from home; but when police pounded on his door and attempted to talk with him, he clearly told them: “Use the power in your hands cautiously and stop continuing to persecute the church,” and invited the police officers to watch the livestream of the Sunday worship service online with him; on December 9 of the same year, the fifth anniversary of the December 9 Early Rain Church case, in order to prevent the pastors, co-workers, and believers of Early Rain Covenant Church from participating in online activities, the local authorities once again used various forms of harassment and disruption, including telephone warnings, threats at his home, surveillance, summonses, and cutting off the electricity. They again criminally detained him on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” and he was released on bail one month later;

As the Chinese Communist authorities intensified their nationwide crackdown and persecution of house churches, on January 6, 2026, Early Rain Covenant Church once again suffered large-scale cross-regional persecution in Chengdu and Deyang. He and nine other pastors, co-workers, and believers, including church elder Li Yingqiang, were arrested, lost contact, or had their freedom restricted; he had previously been notified not to leave the jurisdiction where he lived. On January 6, he was taken away from the church office, his home was searched, and he has been out of contact ever since; as of now, the specific charges against most of him and the other pastors and co-workers remain unclear, and his family has not yet received legal documents, but they know that a lawyer has become involved. He was subsequently criminally detained, formally arrested, and prosecuted. The charges are inciting subversion of state power and organizing an illegal assembly.

He is currently detained at the Deyang City Detention Center in Sichuan Province.