Chen Xiulian (陈秀莲) is a Falun Gong practitioner from Huazhou City, in the Maoming area of Guangdong Province, currently serving a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence. She was detained in June 2023 after surveillance cameras recorded her distributing Falun Gong materials; she was tracked by local police, taken into custody on June 1, 2023, and her home was searched. After two months in the Maoming City Detention Center, her whereabouts became unknown. In October 2024, it was learned that she had been sentenced to four years and six months in prison and fined 10,000 yuan. According to the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) prisoners-of-conscience database, she was being held at Guangdong Provincial Women’s Prison as of the record’s last update, with her sentence running through November 30, 2027.
Arrest and detention
In May 2023, Chen Xiulian was recorded by surveillance cameras while distributing Falun Gong informational materials. Local police followed her, and on June 1, 2023, she was taken into custody and her home was searched. She was first held at the Maoming City Detention Center; after about two months there, her location became unknown, according to reporting by the Falun Gong–affiliated outlet Minghui (明慧网) and the CHRD database entry.
Sentencing
Word reached outside in October 2024 that Chen Xiulian had been sentenced to four years and six months in prison, with a 10,000-yuan fine. The specific criminal charge is not known — neither the CHRD record nor the Minghui report states it. (In comparable Falun Gong cases, convictions are typically under the charge of “using a cult to undermine implementation of the law,” but that charge has not been documented for her case and should not be asserted.) Her recorded sentence end date is November 30, 2027.
Custody status
As of the CHRD record’s most recent update (November 21, 2024), she was held at Guangdong Provincial Women’s Prison. The Rights Defense Network (维权网) monthly report on political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in custody in mainland China continued to list her name in its August 31, 2026 issue (Issue 131), consistent with her remaining in custody through at least that date.
What is not known
Her date of birth and age have not been documented. The exact charge of conviction, the date and court of sentencing, and her custody location after November 2024 are not independently confirmed. No information about family statements, appeals, or her current health is available.
Sources
- Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Prisoners of Conscience Database — 陈秀莲 / Chen Xiulian (record poc_c_00484; status “in prison”; sentence 4 years 6 months; Guangdong, Maoming; last modified 2024-11-21): https://tenchu.org/pocd/public/pocs/3873
- Minghui (明慧网), “广东化州市法轮功学员陈秀莲被冤判四年半” (Oct 25, 2024): https://www.minghui.org/mmh/articles/2024/10/25/484248.html
- Rights Defense Network (维权网) monthly report, Issue 131 (Aug 31, 2026) — name index entry “Chen Xiulian” (English translation via CHINA TRUTH): Issue 131 mirror (chinatruth.net)
See also: Chen Xiulian (陈秀莲) — Media Profile & Archive.