Chang Yuchun (常玉春, formerly known as Chang Yuguang / 常玉光), born 1968, is a Christian printer from Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. He was the legal representative of the Shaanxi Guangyi Aisheng Printing Company, which printed Christian literature for years before authorities raided the firm in July 2020 and seized more than 210,000 books. In August 2021 the Gaoling District Court in Xi’an sentenced him to seven years in prison for “illegal business operations.” He is serving his sentence at Fuping Prison in Shaanxi. His prison term is scheduled to end on September 1, 2027.
The printing company and the 2020 raid
Since at least 2015, the small printing firm run by Chang and his wife, Li Chenhui (李琛慧), had been producing Bibles, devotional materials and theological works for Christian communities. ChinaAid reports that the company’s activity had long drawn the attention of local authorities.
On July 21, 2020, cultural law-enforcement officers from Xi’an, assisted by state security officials, raided the printing facility, sealed the premises and confiscated more than 210,000 religious books. A provincial inspection center later reviewed a selection of the seized titles, including works such as Reformed Faith (《归正信仰》), and declared them “illegal publications” because they had been printed without prior government authorization.
Detention, charges and trial
On July 22, 2020, the day after the raid, Chang Yuchun and Li Chenhui were detained by police from Xi’an’s Gaoling District and placed under “residential surveillance at a designated location,” initially on suspicion of “subversion of state power.” In October 2020 the authorities changed the charge: on October 12 the couple was criminally detained on suspicion of “illegal business operations,” and on October 22 the Gaoling District Procuratorate approved their formal arrest on the same charge. Prosecutors argued that the couple had operated a printing business without the required license, had produced unauthorized religious books, and had thereby “disrupted market order.”
On August 19, 2021, the Gaoling District Court of Xi’an found that Chang and Li had printed illegal publications without a license and disrupted market order, sentencing each of them to seven years in prison for “illegal business operations” and imposing a fine of 250,000 yuan (approximately US$37,000) on each. Both appealed. On November 15, 2021, the Xi’an Intermediate People’s Court rejected the appeal and upheld the original sentences in full. Their prison terms are scheduled to run until September 1, 2027.
Imprisonment and reported ill-treatment
Chang Yuchun is held at Fuping Prison in Shaanxi Province; Li Chenhui is held at the Shaanxi Women’s Prison (also reported as Xi’an Women’s Prison).
Family and advocacy reporting describe harsh treatment. Their son, Chang Shengyi (常圣义), reported that during the initial detention Chang was severely tortured, and that in prison he suffered beatings by fellow inmates who demanded “protection money,” with guards’ connivance, in an attempt to force him to sign a declaration renouncing his faith. In 2024 the family was permitted only two five-minute phone calls for the entire year; requests for video meetings were refused, with prison staff telling the family they knew “the nature of the case” and would not approve further applications.
Health
Since 2024, the family has reported a steady deterioration in Chang Yuchun’s health. His son reported in March 2025 that Chang had been transferred to a somewhat less violent ward after the family appealed to prison authorities. In a May 3, 2026 phone call, Chang Shengyi said his father’s voice was extremely weak, that long-standing joint dislocation problems had worsened to the point where they could no longer be reset, that medication was no longer effective, and that he could barely eat and suffered severe insomnia and constant pain. ChinaAid and Church in Chains Ireland both reported in 2026 that he was seriously ill in prison and that the family was concerned whether he would receive timely medical treatment. Medical details beyond the family’s account have not been independently verified.
Li Chenhui has also been reported in deteriorating health: headaches, dizziness and repeated fainting during kitchen labor; the family said that since she first reported symptoms in November 2023, the prison told her she would be queued for a CT scan, which had still not taken place as of early 2025. These accounts come from family and advocacy sources and are attributed as such.
Family
Chang Yuchun and Li Chenhui have four children. The children live in Beijing with their maternal grandparents, both elderly and themselves in poor health. Their eldest son, Chang Shengyi, left a job at a church school to care for his siblings and grandparents and has repeatedly appealed to prison authorities and the public on his parents’ behalf. Church in Chains Ireland reported that the couple’s house and car had been auctioned by the court to pay their fines, and that ChinaAid said the family would be homeless upon the couple’s eventual release. (The auction claim is single-source; attributed as reported by Church in Chains Ireland.)
Status
As of September 2026, Chang Yuchun remains in custody at Fuping Prison, Shaanxi, with his seven-year term scheduled to end September 1, 2027. His status after that date is not established and is not inferred here.
Source reporting, documents and evidence chronology for this profile are preserved in the Chang Yuchun Media Profile & Archive.