An American pastor detained in China for almost 20 years has been released from prison and flown home to his family in Texas.

David Lin, 68, was given a life sentence in 2006 on charges that the US says were bogus, after he was convicted of fraud for helping an underground church launch a meeting centre in Beijing.

His release took place just weeks after US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met China’s foreign minister in the Chinese capital.

Lin was one of three Americans deemed by the US State Department to have been wrongfully detained in China. Businessmen Kai Li and Mark Swidan are still held behind bars, on espionage and drug-related charges respectively.

“We welcome David Lin’s release from prison in the People’s Republic of China,” a spokesperson for the US State Department said in a statement Sunday.

“He has returned to the United States and now gets to see his family for the first time in nearly 20 years,” the statement added.

The Biden administration has in recent years stepped up diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the three men.