Zhang Jiqiu (张继秋) is a Falun Gong practitioner from Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, reported to be serving a four-year prison term at the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison after her arrest at home in March 2023. She previously served a nine-year sentence (2007–2013) arising from the March 2006 Qiqihar roundup.
Background
According to Minghui.org reporting, Zhang took up Falun Gong in November 1999. She was 47 at the time of a February 2015 report and 56 in July 2024, placing her birth year around 1968. She lived in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province.
The 2006–2007 case: nine-year sentence
On March 20, 2006, Zhang was arrested and taken to the Shuguang Police Station in Qiqihar. Minghui reports that at the end of March 2006 she was taken to an abandoned workshop on the second floor of the Nanpulu Knitwear Mill in Qiqihar, where she was subjected to electric-baton shocks and other abuse while being pressured to betray other practitioners; she was subsequently transferred to the Shuguang Police Station, where she reports further beatings. These accounts are Zhang’s own statements as reported by Minghui and have not been independently verified.
She was taken to the Qiqihar No. 1 Detention Center on April 2, 2006, then transferred to a ward at Hepingchang Hospital. The Tiefeng District Court sentenced her to nine years in prison — reported by one Minghui account as a secret trial at the hospital on December 15, 2006, and by another as a February 2007 sentencing alongside fellow practitioners from the March 2006 roundup (Wu Yuanlong 14 years; An Jingtao, Qi Dawei, and Zhang Jiqiu 9 years each; others 4–10 years). On January 27, 2007, she was transferred to the Harbin Women’s Prison (Heilongjiang Women’s Prison), where Minghui reports she was held in the 9th Ward, placed in solitary confinement, and subjected to prolonged standing and sleep deprivation.
Though scheduled for release on June 1, 2013, she was taken by the local 610 Office to the Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center on May 31, 2013 — the day before her scheduled release — for extended detention. After her eventual release, police refused to return her confiscated identification card, leaving her unable to take full-time work, according to Minghui.
The 2023 case: four-year sentence
In March 2023, officers of the Bukui Police Station arrested Zhang at her home. She was sentenced to four years in prison and admitted to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison in January 2024. The convicting court and formal charge were not reported. The Rights Defense Network’s Issue 131 monthly report (August 31, 2026) lists 张继秋 / “Zhang Jiqiu” in its “sentenced to 4 years” group among prisoners classified as in custody.
Case summary
- Name: Zhang Jiqiu (张继秋), female
- Residence: Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province
- Affiliation (reported): Falun Gong practitioner since 1999
- 2006 arrest: March 20, 2006; Shuguang Police Station, Qiqihar
- 2007 sentence: 9 years, Tiefeng District Court (reported Dec 2006 / Feb 2007 — discrepancy noted)
- 2007–2013 imprisonment: Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison; solitary confinement reported
- 2013: Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center detention from May 31, 2013
- 2023 arrest: March 2023, at home, Bukui Police Station
- 2024 sentence: 4 years; Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison since January 2024
- Convicting court / formal charge (2023 case): not reported
- Appeal: no information found
Sources
The accounts below are reported by Minghui.org, a Falun Gong persecution-monitoring outlet, and by the Rights Defense Network / 维权网, a Chinese-language human-rights monitoring organization. Details of the 2006 arrest, alleged torture, trials, and prison conditions are attributed to that reporting; no PRC court judgment or official document on Zhang Jiqiu’s cases has been publicly located, and independent verification by international news organizations has not been found.
- Minghui.org (2024-07-20), “Two Heilongjiang Women Admitted to Prison to Serve Time for Practicing Falun Gong, One of Them Previously Jailed for 9 Years” — March 2023 arrest by the Bukui Police Station; 4-year sentence; prison admission January 2024; 2006 arrest and 9-year prior term: https://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2024/7/20/219117.html
- Minghui.org (2015-02-26), “Woman’s Ordeal Continues After Release from 9 Years of Suffering in Hospital Ward” — first-person torture account; March 2006 arrest; Shuguang Police Station; Qiqihar No. 1 Detention Center; Hepingchang Hospital ward secret trial December 15, 2006; Harbin Women’s Prison January 27, 2007; solitary confinement; Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center from May 31, 2013: http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2015/2/26/149118.html
- Minghui.org / Clearwisdom (2007-03-11), “Additional Persecution News from China – February 26, 2007” — Tiefeng District Court sentences: Wu Yuanlong 14 years, An Jingtao 9 years, Qi Dawei 9 years, Ms. Zhang Jiqiu 9 years, others 4–10 years: http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2007/3/11/83426.html
- 维权网 / Rights Defense Network, Issue 131 monthly report (2026-08-31), “中国大陆在押政治犯、良心犯月度报告（第131期，共1638人）” — sentence-statistics section “判刑4年，171人” lists 张继秋 / “Zhang Jiqiu”; report classifies entries as political prisoners and prisoners of conscience currently in custody: https://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2026/08/20268311311638.html
View the Media Archive for the identification method and evidentiary limits.