Person profile: Sun Zhihua (孙志华)
This archive preserves the documented source record behind the Sun Zhihua (孙志华) profile: Dawu Group vice chairman of the board of supervisors and relative of Sun Dawu, detained November 11, 2020, sentenced July 28, 2021 to nine years plus a 550,000-yuan fine. Entries are ordered by publication date. Allegations remain attributed rather than stated as fact.
Case chronology
- November 11, 2020 — Gaobeidian police detain Sun Dawu, his relatives (including Sun Zhihua), and Dawu Group executives — nearly 30 people — following the company’s land dispute with a state-owned farm. Sun Zhihua is placed under residential surveillance at a designated location.
- April 21, 2021 — Families of seven detained Dawu figures receive formal arrest notices; Sun Zhihua is charged on six counts: picking quarrels and provoking trouble, illegal mining, gathering a crowd to storm state institutions, illegal occupation of farmland, sabotaging production and operation, and obstructing public officials.
- July 15, 2021 — The Gaobeidian Municipal People’s Court opens the unified trial of the Dawu defendants (20+ people) amid heavy security.
- July 28, 2021 — The court sentences Sun Zhihua to nine years’ imprisonment and a 550,000-yuan fine. In the same verdict: Sun Dawu receives eighteen years and a 3.11-million-yuan fine; Sun Meng receives twelve years; Sun Dehua receives twelve years. Nineteen relatives and employees receive terms from fifteen months to twelve years.
- August 31, 2021 — The Baoding Intermediate Court rules on appeal: all sentences upheld except Sun Fusuo (reduced to a suspended sentence) and Ji Weilian (slightly reduced). Sun Zhihua’s nine-year term stands.
- August 31, 2026 — The 维权网 monthly prisoner report lists “Sun Zhihua” in its nine-year sentenced group, confirming his in-custody status as of that date.
Key source records
- Chinese Human Rights Defenders — Prisoners of Conscience database, record 孙志华 / “SUN ZHI HUA” (record entered 2021-04-30): male, born 1963-07-25; Dawu Group vice board-of-supervisors chairman; Sun Dawu relative; taken away November 11, 2020; six charges; 9-year sentence; release date November 10, 2029. Database search page (verified retrieval 2026-10-09; exactly one record returned, no name collisions).
- Radio Free Asia (Mandarin service), Lu Xi, “Court in China’s Hebei Jails Agricultural Magnate Sun Dawu For 18 Years” (July 28, 2021): reports that Sun Dawu’s brothers Sun Dehua and Sun Zhihua were handed twelve and nine years respectively, alongside Sun Meng’s twelve years. Read via GlobalSecurity.org reprint: https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/china/2021/07/china-210728-rfa03.htm (established international media; verified read).
- NPR, Emily Feng, “Chinese Billionaire Sun Dawu Is Sentenced To 18 Years For ‘Provoking Trouble’” (July 28, 2021): corroborates the closed-door trial, the 19 relatives/employees sentenced to terms from fifteen months to twelve years, and the November 2020 detentions (established international media; verified read).
- Associated Press, “Chinese Farmer Who Praised Lawyers Sentenced to 18 Years” (July 28/29, 2021): corroborates the 20-defendant Gaobeidian trial and the court’s public verdict statement (established wire service; verified read).
- Rights Defense Network (维权网), Issue 131 monthly report (August 31, 2026): lists “Sun Zhihua” in its nine-year sentenced group (verified as roster record).
Limitations and contradictions
The six-count charge list is as reported by CHRD — presented as reported charges, not independently verified convictions on each count. The current detention facility is undocumented. A 2016 Changchun Falun Gong practitioner named Sun Zhihua is a weak-match namesake only (detention, no sentencing record, no Dawu anchor) and is not merged; a 2001 Daqing detention-center telephone list entry is a wrong-person record. Related records (separate persons, not merged): Sun Dawu, Sun Meng, Sun Dehua.
Person profile: Sun Zhihua (孙志华)