Yao Xilin is a Christian church leader from Heilongjiang Province who was detained in Nyingchi, in the Tibet Autonomous Region, in a 2024 crackdown on the All Ranges Church, an unregistered Protestant house-church network.
Born on 15 February 1970 and a native of Yabuli Town, Shangzhi City, Harbin, Heilongjiang, Yao was a business owner living on Yingbin Avenue in Bayi District, Nyingchi, before his arrest. According to the indictment issued by the People’s Procuratorate of Bayi District, Nyingchi City, Yao served as the general director of the “All Ranges Nyingchi Church,” the local congregation of the All Ranges Church (also known as the Born Again Movement or the Way of Life Church), a house-church movement founded in Henan in 1984 that operates outside the state-approved Three-Self church system.
On 21 March 2024, Yao was released on bail by the Nyingchi City Public Security Bureau. On 13 May 2024, with the approval of the Nyingchi City People’s Procuratorate, he was formally arrested on suspicion of “sabotaging the enforcement of laws by organizing and utilizing cult organizations,” the charge set out in Article 300 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China. On 25 December 2024, the Bayi District People’s Procuratorate indicted Yao together with nine other Christians from the same church. The indictment names Yao, Zhang Wei, Ren Xiaoyun, and Wang Haiying as principal offenders and describes Yao, Zhang, and Ren as the main preachers. The prosecution alleged that since 2019 the three had revived the organization in Nyingchi, established the “Nyingchi Church,” organized evangelism, and developed the congregation, holding gatherings and using Zoom and WeChat groups for prayer meetings.
As reported in January and March 2025, Yao was held at the Nyingchi Detention Center. No verdict has been publicly reported; the outcome of his trial is unknown.
The All Ranges Church was designated a banned “cult organization” by Chinese authorities in a 1995 notice, a designation that religious-freedom advocates dispute. ChinaAid, which first reported the case, describes the indictment’s listed offenses — evangelism, prayer meetings, youth ministry, and charitable activities — as peaceful religious activity. The charges against Yao are allegations made by prosecutors; they are not findings of a court.
Media archive: Yao Xilin — Media Archive