Zhang Zhan, a 37-year-old former lawyer, is facing up to five years in jail.

Authorities have accused her of 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble' while detaining her.

She is one among at least four citizen journalists to have been detained for reporting the virus outbreak in Wuhan.

According to Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), an NGO, Zhan went to Wuhan in February and began reporting on the virus outbreak.

"Zhang Zhan had travelled to Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, in early February. She reported numerous stories including the detentions of other independent reporters and harassment of families of victims seeking accountability from the epicenter via her WeChat, Twitter and YouTube accounts," the NGO said.

"She had initially gone missing on May 14 in Wuhan," it added.

On May 15, reports emerged of her detention by police in Shanghai, a city 640 kilometres from Wuhan.

"On June 19, 2020, Pudong New Distict Procuratorate approved the formal arrest of Zhang. She is being held at Pudong New District Detention Center in Shanghai," the NGO said.

According to authorities, Zhang was arrested as she “sent a large amount of false information” on WeChat, Twitter, and YouTube and “accepted interviews with overseas media Radio Free Asia and Epoch Times and maliciously stirred up the Wuhan epidemic situation.”

"The procuratorate recommended she receive a 4-5 year sentence," the CHRD said.

Zhang is no stranger to Chinese law enforcement officers as In 2019 she was detained by Shanghai police for supporting Hong Kong activists.

According to reports, the citizen journalist was also made to undergo psychiatric examination while in detention.