A Chinese Christian was arrested after he printed religious material for his house church.

Li Hongmin was detained by government officials on June 6 in Guangzhou, according to the charity China Aid. His phone and other property were confiscated and he was accused of "illegal business operations" in the capital of China's southern Guangdong province.

As he was removed Li was told he would be allowed to go home after two hours, China Aid said. But he was not released and several hours later police officers returned to his home and told his wife Li needed his phone, tricking her into handing it over to the authorities.

Li's wife was further tricked into paying detention fees after she was told her husband would only be detained for one week.

One local Christian explained the situation to the charity: "Those police officers went back to his house and told [his wife] that her husband needed a cell phone, and that was how they obtained his phone. Then the officers came back that night to take away his things.

"They lied and said that Li would only be detained for seven days, tricking his family members into paying a fee to the detention center."

Later that evening the officers returned and occupied the house for the rest of the night. Li's wife insisted the documents printed were not offensive.

"The materials we printed were not heresies," she told China Aid. "They were not opposed to the Communist Party in any way. On the contrary, they teach people to help others, to love their fellow countrymen, their home and their country."

The arrest is part of a wider crackdown on Christians from Chinese authorities. Christians were forced to abandon prayer meetings in Handen in early June after police claimed they did not have permission.