Chen Xiuling (陈秀玲) is a Falun Gong practitioner from Shouguang City, in the Weifang area of Shandong Province, currently serving a four-year prison sentence. Now in her 60s, she has been imprisoned for her faith before: according to the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) prisoners-of-conscience database, she was sentenced to nine years in 2003 for practicing Falun Gong. She was detained again in March 2023 and held at the Weifang City Detention Center; in September or October 2023 she was sentenced to four years. Her recorded sentence runs through March 2027.
Earlier imprisonment
For her practice of Falun Gong, Chen Xiuling was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment in 2003. Details of that earlier case — the charge, the court, where she served the sentence — have not been located; the CHRD record notes the nine-year term without further particulars.
2023 re-arrest and sentencing
In March 2023, Chen Xiuling was taken into custody again and held at the Weifang City Detention Center in Shandong. In September–October 2023, she was sentenced to four years in prison; the specific charge is not documented. No trial details, court name, or information about legal representation or appeal have been found.
Custody status
The CHRD record (last modified December 19, 2023) lists her status as “in 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. Her custody location after the Weifang detention-center period has not been independently confirmed.
What is not known
Her exact date of birth has not been documented. The charges in both the 2003 and 2023 cases, the sentencing courts, her custody location after late 2023, and any information about her health or family are not available.
Identity note: This profile concerns 陈秀玲 of Shouguang, Shandong. It is not 陈秀莲 (Chen Xiulian) — a different person in a different case, never merged.
Sources: Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Prisoners of Conscience Database — 陈秀玲 / Chen Xiuling (record poc_c_00460; status “in prison”; 4-year sentence, release 2027.3; Shandong, Weifang; last modified 2023-12-19); Rights Defense Network (维权网) monthly report, Issue 131 (Aug 31, 2026). See the Media Profile & Archive for provenance, limitations, and evidentiary limits.
View the Chen Xiuling (陈秀玲) — Media Profile & Archive for the full source record and evidentiary limits.