A photo of Zhang Yingying released by the police. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The trial for the man accused of kidnapping a Chinese scholar in Illinois has been rescheduled to February, five months later than originally set.

The federal kidnapping trial for Brendt Christensen, accused of kidnapping Zhang Yingying, has been rescheduled from Sept 12 to Feb 27.

Lawyers representing Christensen, a former graduate student at the University of Illinois, where Zhang was a visiting scholar, filed a continuance motion on Aug 23. The US attorney's office for the Central District of Illinois, which is prosecuting the case, joined the motion and did not object.

US District Court Judge Colin Bruce granted the defense attorneys' request during a pretrial hearing on Monday at the federal courthouse in Urbana, Illinois.

According to the News Gazette, Bryan Freres, representing the US attorney's office, raised the possibility that a superseding indictment, with additional charges, could be filed before the case goes to trial. That would mean the case returning to a grand jury. Zhang has been missing since June 9 and is presumed dead by the FBI.