Ruan Xiaohuan (阮晓寰), born June 10, 1977 in Quanzhou, Fujian, is an information-security specialist and the blogger identified by multiple sources as “ProgramThink” (编程随想).
Ruan was detained in Shanghai in May 2021. A translated first-instance judgment records that the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court convicted him of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced him on February 10, 2023 to seven years’ imprisonment, two years’ deprivation of political rights, and confiscation of 20,000 yuan. The judgment records the prison term as running from May 10, 2021 to May 9, 2028.
Reporting by CPJ, RSF, Dui Hua, ChinaAid and other outlets links Ruan to the long-running ProgramThink blog, which covered internet security, censorship circumvention, political commentary, and historical materials. His wife, Bei Zhenying (贝震颖), publicly identified him as the blogger after the first-instance verdict.
Ruan appealed. Dui Hua reported that later in the appeal process he was able to retain lawyers Mo Shaoping and Zhang Dongshuo. Radio Free Asia reported that on December 13, 2024 the Shanghai High People’s Court upheld the sentence after a brief second-instance hearing.
Status
ChinaAid reported in August 2025 that Ruan had been transferred to Tilanqiao Prison in Shanghai and that his wife was permitted to visit him there on August 22, 2025. The court judgment records the term ending May 9, 2028. No release or sentence reduction is inferred beyond the dated evidence.
Evidence notes
The court judgment itself does not name the ProgramThink blog; the identity linkage rests on his wife’s disclosure and extensive corroborating reporting. Family accounts and advocacy-group descriptions are attributed as such.
Media Profile & Archive: Ruan Xiaohuan / 阮晓寰 — Media Profile & Archive.