U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would raise concerns about jailed Catholic media tycoon and Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai and detained Chinese pastor Jin Mingri during his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump made his announcement at the White House in the U.S. on Monday, May 11, before his two-day state visit to China.

Lai, now aged 78, was jailed for 20 years in prison in February on charges that included collusion with foreign forces and publishing seditious materials under Hong Kong's national security laws.

"Jimmy Lai - he caused lots of turmoil for China. He tried to do the right thing. He wasn't successful, went to jail, and people would like him out, and I'd like to see him get out too. So I'll bring him up again," Trump said. He also said he had previously brought up Lai's case with China.

Tump arrived in Beijing for his summit with Xi on May 13, his first trip to China since returning to the White House in 2025. It is the first trip for a U.S. president since Trump's last visit in 2017.

Lai's case raised widespread concerns about declining freedoms in Hong Kong, with international human rights groups and Christian organisations warning about the effects on freedom of speech, religion and the press.

The sentence is the longest delivered under Beijing's 2020 National Security Law and means Lai will not be eligible for parole until he is in his late 90s.

Lai converted to Catholicism in the 1990s, and had spoken publicly about how his Christian faith shaped his commitment to democracy and human dignity.

Founder of the Apple Daily newspaper, which no longer exists, Lai was sentenced by three government-picked judges who found him guilty of conspiring to lobby the U.S. and other foreign powers for sanctions against China and the former British colony.

Trump also said he would bring up the case of ​Zion Church founder, Pastor Jin Mingri, who was arrested late last year, Reuters news agency reported.

The crackdown on Zion Church came after ​new rules from China's top religion regulator banned unauthorised online preaching or religious training by clergy, as well as "foreign collusion."