Chang Yuchun (58) is a Christian printer from Xi’an city, capital of Shaanxi province, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence in Shaanxi’s Fuping Prison for printing religious books. His wife Li Chenhui (49) is serving a seven-year prison sentence in Xi’an Women’s Prison. Their eldest son Chang Shengyi recently reported that his father’s health had deteriorated significantly and he is now seriously ill.

Following a rare phone call from his father on 3 May, Chang Shengyi reported, “His voice was extremely weak. He mentioned his condition has worsened dramatically. Medicines no longer help. He can barely eat.” Chang Yuchun told his son that his long-term joint dislocation problems have become increasingly severe and can no longer be reset, and that drug treatment has become ineffective. He is suffering from extreme pain and insomnia, as well as severe difficulty eating.

Chang Yuchun was severely tortured during his initial detention and later suffered beatings and extortion of money by criminals in prison over an extended period. A jailer also beat him so badly that he lost teeth. In March 2025, after his son appealed to prison authorities, he was transferred to a safer ward.

Printing company raided, Chang Yuchun and Li Chenhui detained

Chang Yuchun was the legal representative of Shaanxi Guangyi Aisheng Printing Company, which began printing Christian literature in 2015 and soon attracted the attention of local authorities. Li Chenhui was company supervisor.

On 21 July 2020 officers from Xi’an’s cultural law enforcement department, together with state security officials, raided the company, shut it down and seized more than 210,000 books. The authorities later identified 24 titles as “illegal publications printed without approval“.

On 22 July 2020 Chang Yuchun and Li Chenhui were detained and placed under residential surveillance at a designated location on suspicion of “subversion of state power“. From the start they were given very little food and were not allowed to talk, sleep or wash, but then things got even worse for Chang Yuchun, who was tortured for fourteen days, during which he was not allowed to go to the bathroom and a light was shone on him around the clock to prevent him sleeping. He was repeatedly interrogated in an attempt to get him to admit to “inciting subversion of state power”, which he refused to do.

Sentenced

On 12 October 2020 the charge against the couple was changed to “illegal business operations” and on 23 October they were formally arrested and moved to criminal detention in Xi’an, with Chang Yuchun placed in the Gaoling District Detention Centre and Li Chenhui placed in the Weiyang District Detention Centre. Prosecutors argued that they had operated a printing business without the required licence, had produced unauthorised religious books and had thereby “disrupted market order”.

On 19 August 2021 the Gaoling District Court found that Chang Yuchun and Li Chenhui had printed illegal publications without a licence and disturbed market order, and sentenced each of them to seven years in prison for “illegal business operations” and a fine of 250,000 yuan (approximately €31,500).

They appealed, but on 15 November 2021 the Xi’an Intermediate People’s Court rejected the appeal and upheld the original sentence. Their prison terms are scheduled to end on 1 September 2027 but China Aid reported that they will be homeless because the court auctioned their house and car to pay their fines.

The couple’s four children, aged from 9 to 28, live in Beijing with their maternal grandparents, who are 76 and 79. Last year it was reported that their grandmother was suffering from advanced breast cancer and their grandfather was in poor health following a lung perforation and surgery a few years ago. Chang Shengyi left his job at a church school to care for his siblings and grandparents and is involved in a Christian online homeschooling system, which provides some income.

Health issues

In October 2025 Chang Yuchun’s family issued an urgent appeal to the authorities to grant medical parole so he could receive treatment. Chang Shengyi released a statement in which he said that his father had suddenly developed a severe spinal condition, limiting his mobility. He had been taken to the prison clinic on 16 October after experiencing sudden intense pain and preliminary examinations indicated spinal slippage and a fractured lumbar spine, with hyperostosis. The doctor recommended further assessment and treatment at a regular hospital.

Meanwhile, Li Chenhui had begun experiencing frequent dizziness in November 2023, fainted multiple times while working in the prison kitchen and struggled with headaches. She has since been transferred to a strict supervision cell and was ordered to copy out the prison rules until her right hand developed tenosynovitis. On 17 March 2025 Chang Shengyi and his younger brother were able to make a rare visit to her at Xi’an Women’s Prison.

(China Aid, Bitter Winter)

Photo source: Chang Yuchun’s family via China Aid