WASHINGTON –

 A Christian pastor from California has been freed from China after nearly 20 years behind bars and is back home in the U.S., the State Department said Monday.

David Lin, 68, was detained after he entered China in 2006, convicted of contract fraud and sentenced to life in prison, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the Dui Hua Foundation, a humanitarian group that advocates for prisoners in China.

The foundation calls it a charge frequently used against leaders in the house church movement, which operates outside state-sponsored faith groups, and a crime that Lin denied. The commission on religious freedom says “those who participate in and lead house churches often face intimidation, harassment, arrest and harsh sentences.”

“We welcome David Lin’s release from prison in the People’s Republic of China. He has returned to the United States and now gets to see his family for the first time in nearly 20 years,” the State Department said.

His sentence had been reduced and he had been due for release in April 2030. The commission on religious freedom noted in a 2019 news release that there were reports Lin was in declining health and faced possible threats to his safety in prison.

It comes after national security adviser Jake Sullivan visited China late last month, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top officials, in a bid to keep communication open as tensions have increased between U.S. and China.

The Chinese foreign ministry didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.