Case Details and Biography of Liu Zhenbin, Victim of the Zion Church 10·9 Case Who Was Arrested
(Rights Defense Network Information Center report)On June 27, 2026, this outlet learned the case details and biography of Liu Zhenbin, a victim of the Zion Church 10·9 case who was arrested, and reports them as follows:
Liu Zhenbin:Born in the 1980s, also known as Liu Shanyi, native place unknown, Christian, pastor of the Shandong Qingdao branch of Beijing Zion Church, victim of the Zion Church 10·9 case, and detained Chinese prisoner of conscience。
In his youth, he became a Christian in 1997; later, because of his academic excellence, he was admitted to Taiyuan University of Technology in Shanxi upon graduating from high school and ultimately obtained a master’s degree; he later studied theology because of his faith, and began serving as a full-time minister at Zion Church in 2016; in September 2018, because the Zion Church where he served refused to join the “Three-Self” church system supported and controlled by the Chinese Communist authorities, it was forcibly banned by the Beijing authorities, forcing him and several other pastors to leave Beijing; but afterward, because of the pastors、co-workers’ and believers’ longing for and low-profile persistence in their faith, and as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, forcing people to remain at home and preventing them from going out freely, Zion Church began organizing evangelistic activities online, causing the church’s influence and size to continuously expand; during this period, he undertook pastoral work for a Zion Church branch in Qingdao, Shandong;
In 2025, as a new wave of religious persecution by the Chinese Communist Party arose across the country, beginning on October 9 of that year, numerous pastors, co-workers and key believers from Zion Church branches across the country were subjected to surprise raids by the Chinese Communist authorities; nearly 30 people were summoned by police、lost contact or placed under criminal detention, while worship and meeting venues of the churches were sealed, property was searched, and family members of some co-workers were threatened and harassed; he too was taken away in the early morning of October 11 from his home in Huangdao District, Qingdao, by Qingdao police and Beihai police acting jointly, his home was searched, and one laptop computer、some books、his three mobile phones,as well as the Bible and notebooks he used, were seized at the scene; on November 18 of the same year, a total of 18 Zion Church pastors and co-workers, including him, were formally arrested by police in Yinhai District, Beihai City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on suspicion of “the crime of illegally using an information network”;
On June 18, 2026, after three rounds of criminal investigation by the Yinhai District police in Beihai City, his case had reached the maximum seven-month period for investigative detention in major cases, and it was learned that nine pastors and co-workers had been approved for release on bail pending trial, while the nine church leaders, including him, Jin Mingri、Wang Lin、Gao Yingjia、Yin Huibin、Wu Qiuyu、Lin Shucheng、Wang Cong (female) and Wang Zhong, remained in continued detention, with the charges against them all changed to “illegal business operations” and “fraud”, and their cases transferred to the Yinhai District Procuratorate of Beihai City for review and prosecution。
He is currently detained at Beihai No. 2 Detention Center(Pingyang, Gaode Town, Yinhai District, Beihai City, Guangxi Autonomous Region; postal code:536005)。
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