China jails Protestant pastor for 9 years for 'inciting' subversion

China's officially atheist government is wary of any organised movements outside its own control, including religious ones. [AFP/File / GREG BAKER]

China on Monday jailed the leader of an unofficial Protestant church for nine years for "incitement to subvert state power".

Pastor Wang Yi, whose Early Rain Covenant Church was the target of a government crackdown last year, was also found guilty of "illegal business operation" by a court in southwest China's Chengdu, according to an announcement on an official court website.