Guo Ran (果然), born in 1981, was a businessman in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, where he operated a private gallery. The Dui Hua Foundation reports that he was convicted of subversion of state power in 2013 and sentenced to 14 years in prison by the Xi’an Intermediate People’s Court in a closed trial alongside Kou Ji (寇稽), who received ten years.
Case record
Dui Hua reports that the case first surfaced through a 2013 Xi’an Intermediate People’s Court work report and later through sentence-reduction decisions that were posted on China Judgements Online and subsequently removed. Both Guo and Kou were held at Weinan Prison.
A Chinese government publication later located by Dui Hua described the official allegations: that Guo and Kou created the “Xingya Party,” recruited members online, discussed a self-declared “Chinese Federal Republic,” and planned other activities. Dui Hua expressly stated that it could not assess the truthfulness of the government’s account. Those allegations are therefore not presented here as established facts.
Sentence-reduction record and status
Dui Hua reported that Guo received a five-month sentence reduction in 2019 after earlier reduction requests were denied. In 2024, Weinan Prison reportedly submitted another five-month reduction request. Depending on that unresolved request, Dui Hua estimated the sentence could have ended in February or July 2025. Guo’s release has not been independently confirmed, so his current custody status is recorded as unknown.
Media Archive: Guo Ran / 果然 — Media Archive.