China frees Swedish bookseller held over books on communist leaders

China has reportedly freed a Swedish bookseller who was detained for publishing books on the personal lives of President Xi Jinping and other Communist Party leaders.

The Swedish foreign office made the announcement after Chinese-born Swede Gui Minhai was allegedly abducted in Thailand while on holiday in 2015.

He was among five Hong Kong booksellers who went missing that year and later appeared in custody in mainland China.

The other four booksellers have returned to Hong Kong.

"We have been told by Chinese authorities that Gui Minhai has been released in China," foreign office spokeswoman Sofia Karlberg confirmed.

But the bookseller's daughter Angela Gui questioned if he really had been freed, saying she and her family have not heard anything from him or about his whereabouts.

In a statement she said: "Neither I nor any member of my family nor any of his friends have been contacted.

"It is still very unclear where he is. I am deeply concerned for his wellbeing."

Mr Gui won the Anna Politkovskaya Memorial Prize for free speech and press freedom earlier this year, which was awarded by Swedish media organisation Publicistklubben.

The organisation said Mr Gui had "despite personal risk... shown great courage as a publisher and challenged the narrow-mined political agenda of the Chinese regime".

His daughter reportedly told Publicistklubben at the time: "I am glad that this prize will focus attention on my father's situation.

"Hopefully, more attention... can lead to more information on his situation and health and that he will be treated better."

Chinese officials have previously insisted law enforcement officers had done nothing illegal with regard to Mr Gui.