A group of Christian believers in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China, has been arrested and detained since 2021. They are charged with illegally selling Bibles. Even though the Bibles themselves were printed in China and authorized by the responsible governmental organization, the judges during the trial argued that reselling Bibles through a house church that is not a member of the government-approved and controlled Christian organization is a crime.

The persecuted Christians categorically stated that their intent was purely evangelistic. They did not have any financial gain from selling the Bibles, as they were selling them for a lower price than they bought them.

In April 2024, one of the Christians was sentenced to 5 years of prison for illegal business activities. For the other nine members of the house church, the court concluded their judgment in November 2024 and sent out the sentences in April 2025, finding all ten arrested Christians guilty. The sentences range from one year up to four years and ten months in prison. Besides the prison time, all of them have to pay fines ranging from some thousands of yuan up to more than a million. Five of the defendants have served their prison sentence already in detention.

This is not the first time authorities targeted the Hohhot Christian community. Wang Honglang, a prestigious member of the community, has previously been sentenced and spent five years in jail as well as one year in a labor camp.

Source: Bitter Winter