18 leaders of Zion Church, a major Chinese underground church, were formally arrested on Nov 18; they will eventually face trial and a potential prison sentence of up to 3 years.

Nearly 30 pastors and staff belonging to the church, an unofficial "house church" not sanctioned by the government, were detained by police nationwide in mid-Oct, in the biggest crackdown on Chinese Christians since 2018.

The group, which includes church founder Pastor Jin Mingri (金明日), is being held in detention centers in Beihai, Guangxi.

5 people were released in Oct and a further 4 support staffers were released on bail around Nov 10, according to Grace Jin, the daughter of Jin Mingri.

The remaining 18 detainees were formally arrested and charged with the crime of illegally using information networks.

The crime carries a prison sentence of up to 3 years.

After a criminal suspect is detained in China, their formal arrest marks the beginning of a criminal investigation leading to trial, a process which could take over a year in complex cases.

Jin was able to meet his lawyer on Oct 14, after the case started receiving foreign media attention.

The crackdown on Zion Church came a month after new rules from China's top religion regulator banned unauthorized online preaching or religious training by clergy, as well as "foreign collusion".

China has more than 44 million Christians registered with state-sanctioned churches, the majority Protestant, official figures show. But tens of millions more are estimated to be part of illegal "house churches" that operate outside the control of the ruling Communist Party.

Zion Church, with about 5,000 regular worshippers across nearly 50 cities, rapidly added members during the COVID-19 pandemic through Zoom sermons and small in-person gatherings. The church was founded by Jin, also known as Ezra, in 2007, after he quit as a pastor for the official state-controlled Protestant church.

A graduate of the elite Peking University, Jin converted to Christianity after witnessing the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

In 2018, police shut down its church building in Beijing, during a crackdown on major house churches. Earlier this year, police temporarily detained 11 Zion Church pastors.

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