Pastor Zhou Songlin and Elder Ding Zhongfu, sentenced to 4 years and 6 months and 4 years respectively in the Hefei Ganquan Church case, both transferred to Xuancheng Prison to serve their sentences

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On July 30, 2026, this outlet learned that Pastor Zhou Songlin and Elder Ding Zhongfu, who were sentenced to 4 years and 6 months and 4 years respectively in the Hefei Ganquan Church case, have both been transferred to Xuancheng Prison to serve their sentences.

On November 30, 2023, Pastor Zhou Songlin and Elder Ding Zhongfu of the Hefei Ganquan Church case were arrested. On February 13, 2026, the two were sentenced to four and a half years and four years respectively for fraud. Dissatisfied with the first-instance judgment, they appealed. On May 7, 2026, without a hearing being held, their lawyers received the written second-instance ruling from the Hefei Intermediate People's Court: the appeals were rejected and the original judgments upheld.

Recently, Pastor Zhou Songlin and Elder Ding Zhongfu were both transferred to Xuancheng Prison to serve their sentences. Mailing addresses: Zhou Songlin: First Prison Area, Xuancheng Prison, Zhouwang Town, Xuanzhou District, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province; Ding Zhongfu: Fourth Floor, Jinbao Prison Area, Xuancheng Prison, Zhouwang Town, Xuanzhou District, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province; Postal code: 242061.

Biography of Zhou Songlin: Born in the 1960s, a native of Anhui Province, Christian, formerly a preacher in a Three-Self church, founder and pastor of the Ganquan House Church in Hefei City, Anhui Province, and a conscience prisoner detained in China.

More than 30 years ago, after graduating from a Chinese theological seminary (recognized by the government), he was assigned to serve as a preacher at a church under the jurisdiction of a Three-Self church. After he married, however, he and his wife felt a strong calling and he resolutely left the Three-Self church (an “iron rice bowl” within the system) and founded the Ganquan House Church in Hefei City, Anhui Province. From then on, he and others served full-time and worked diligently to preach the gospel. By 2023, Ganquan Church had grown to 400 to 500 Christian believers;

However, because the Chinese Communist authorities have continually persecuted house churches over the past more than 10 years, with house churches in various places frequently suppressed and disbanded, the church where he served was also forced to relocate many times. To prevent worship activities from being disrupted and interfered with, the church workers' assembly decided to use offerings accumulated over many years by believers to purchase two church properties for worship and fellowship activities. At the same time, to prevent the properties of the house church from going unrecognized by the Chinese Communist authorities, several co-workers were collectively selected to hold them jointly (that is, the two properties were registered in the names of Elder Ding Zhongfu and two other church members). Legal procedures were followed, and video notarization was archived, to prove that the properties belonged to the church and that their ownership status was clear. However, this action later became the reason and evidence used by the authorities to have church pastors and workers arrested and prosecuted;

On November 30, 2023, 16 pastors and workers of Ganquan Church, including him, were suddenly summoned at their homes by the Shushan District police of Hefei City. All their homes were searched. He, Elder Ding Zhongfu, preacher Mao Junma, preacher Pei Defei, and administrative worker Yang Peiyun were subsequently criminally detained on suspicion of “fraud.” On December 28 of the same year, after three preachers and workers were released on bail pending trial, he and Elder Ding Zhongfu remained detained. They were later formally arrested, with the authorities alleging that their arrests were related to the two properties of Ganquan Church and the church's financial transactions;

In early May 2024, his lawyer learned at the Shushan District Procuratorate in Hefei City that the status of his case at that time was: “1. There will be no return for supplementary investigation; 2. The case will be delayed for half a month; 3. They will not enter a guilty plea or accept punishment, because neither of the two admits guilt; 4. The case will be prosecuted at court no later than May 20.” During this period, some workers within his church (or people claiming to be workers), having come under pressure from the authorities on multiple fronts, developed disagreements and divisions over the hiring of defense lawyers, because the wives of the two men had hired defense lawyers unwelcome to the authorities. This led some believers to say they would leave the church. In response, he said from prison on May 5 that the persecution he and Elder Ding Zhongfu were suffering was in fact political persecution: “They did not actively participate in politics; rather, they were forced into politics”;

His wife also issued a statement, saying that her husband “is an upright and devout Christian who has served the church full-time for 32 years. His principle of service is: loyalty to God, based on the Bible, exalting Christ, and loving God and people,” and that “to avoid temptation, he insists on not handling the church's money in his service,” and that “not a single penny has gone into his own pocket.” She also appealed, saying that her pastor husband and Elder Ding Zhongfu “did not illegally obtain other people's property through deception. They are not fraudsters; they are innocent. Please return their freedom to them.” Two other church believers also submitted petitions and written testimonies at different times to the Hefei Religious Affairs Bureau and the criminal investigation unit concerning the wrongful arrests of the two men, but the authorities ignored them and refused to accept them as evidence;

On July 31, 2024, a pretrial conference was held at the Shushan District People's Court in Hefei City in the fraud case against him. Because his lawyer pointed out that the prosecutor had failed to perform his required duties, resulting in numerous problems in the indictment, the prosecutor was rendered speechless by the questioning and had no choice but to suspend the conference early. A second pretrial conference was held on October 14 of the same year, but to this day there has still been no trial result in his case. It is reported that although his health was poor in the detention center, he learned to live with three attitudes: the attitude of martyrdom, the attitude of spiritual cultivation, and the attitude of evangelism. He also conveyed encouragement to church believers to “make up your minds and live for the gospel.”

The court ultimately handed down its judgment in the case on February 13, 2026. The result was as follows: Pastor Zhou Songlin was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months and fined 30,000 yuan, with his sentence ending on May 31, 2028;

He was previously detained at the Hefei Detention Center (Hefei (Male) Detention Center of the Hefei Supervision Detachment, Meichonghu Road, Shuangfeng, Changfeng County, Hefei City; postal code: 230000). In July 2026, he was transferred to Xuancheng Prison to serve his sentence. Mailing address: Zhou Songlin: First Prison Area, Xuancheng Prison, Zhouwang Town, Xuanzhou District, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province; postal code: 242061.

Biography of Ding Zhongfu: Born in the 1960s, a native of Anhui Province, Christian, elder of the Ganquan House Church in Hefei City, Anhui Province, person responsible for church financial management, home-education worker, and a conscience prisoner detained in China.

Because of his devout belief in Jesus Christ, he voluntarily served in the church. He was later ordained an elder and served as a pastoral worker at Ganquan Church in Hefei City, Anhui Province. Because of his upright and kind character, his active and diligent efforts, his pursuit of fairness and justice, and his dedication to home education, he was highly regarded by many people in the church and the surrounding community. In particular, through teaching by word and example in the church, he helped many believers establish and strengthen good family relationships. However, although the Ganquan Church in Hefei, where he served, had developed over more than 20 years into a locally well-known house church with 400 to 500 believers, it had frequently been disrupted and interfered with by the local Religious Affairs Bureau and police for more than 10 years;

On November 30, 2023, 16 pastors and workers of Ganquan Church, including him, were suddenly summoned at their homes by the Shushan District police of Hefei City. Everyone's home was searched. He, Pastor Zhou Songlin, preacher Mao Junma, preacher Pei Defei, and administrative worker Yang Peiyun from the church were subsequently criminally detained on suspicion of “fraud”;

On December 28 of the same year, after three preachers and workers were released on bail pending trial, he and Pastor Zhou Songlin remained detained. They were later formally arrested under the same charge. The authorities alleged that their arrests were related to the two properties of Ganquan Church and the church's financial transactions, claiming that the two men “with the purpose of illegally obtaining property, under the pretext of religion, defrauded others of more than 3.39 million yuan in total, an especially large amount,” and therefore constituted fraud;

On April 30, 2024, the Shushan District police of Hefei City transferred his case to the Shushan District Court for prosecution. In early May of the same year, his lawyer learned from Shushan District police officers that his case had been described as follows: “1. There will be no return for supplementary investigation; 2. The case will be delayed for half a month; 3. They will not enter a guilty plea or accept punishment, because neither of the two admits guilt; 4. The case will be prosecuted at court no later than May 20.” During this period, some workers within his church, having come under pressure from the authorities on multiple fronts, developed disagreements and divisions over the hiring of defense lawyers, because the wives of the two men had hired defense lawyers unwelcome to the authorities. This led some believers to say they would leave the church. In response, Pastor Zhou Songlin, who was co-defendant with him, said from prison on May 5 that the persecution he and Elder Ding Zhongfu were suffering “was in fact political persecution”; they had not “actively participated in politics, but had been forced into politics.” At the same time, the wives of the two detained pastors also issued statements and appeals, saying that their husbands “did not illegally obtain other people's property through deception. They are not fraudsters; they are innocent. Please return their freedom to them.” Several other church believers also submitted petitions and written testimonies at different times to the Hefei Religious Affairs Bureau and the criminal investigation unit concerning the wrongful arrests of the two men, proving that they had been wronged and that no deception or fraud had occurred, but the authorities ignored them all and refused to believe them;

On July 31, 2024, a pretrial conference was held at the Shushan District People's Court in Hefei City in the case against the two men. Because their lawyer pointed out that the prosecutor had failed to perform his required duties, resulting in numerous problems in the indictment, the prosecutor was rendered speechless when challenged and had no choice but to suspend the conference early. A second pretrial conference was held on October 14, 2024, but to this day the case against the two men has still been delayed without a judgment;

It is reported that his health was extremely poor in the detention center. In addition to several chronic illnesses common among older people, his blood pressure reached as high as 170/110 and could not be controlled even with medication. He often experienced chest tightness, dizziness, and insomnia. His wife appealed on behalf of her husband: “Immediately release the innocent man.”

The court ultimately handed down its judgment in the case on February 13, 2026. The result was as follows: Elder Ding Zhongfu was sentenced to 4 years and fined 28,000 yuan, with his sentence ending on November 30, 2027;

He was previously detained at the Hefei Detention Center (Hefei (Male) Detention Center of the Hefei Supervision Detachment, Meichonghu Road, Shuangfeng, Changfeng County, Hefei City, Anhui Province; postal code: 230000). In July 2026, he was transferred to Xuancheng Prison to serve his sentence. Mailing address: Ding Zhongfu: Fourth Floor, Jinbao Prison Area, Xuancheng Prison, Zhouwang Town, Xuanzhou District, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province; postal code: 242061.