The murder case of Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying will go to trial on June 3, according to a US district judge.

(Photo: AP)

The trial of accused kidnapper and killer Brendt Christensen will be streamed from the courthouse in Peoria to a viewing room at the Urbana courthouse.

US District Judge James Shadid approved the closed-circuit video "to accommodate members of the public and the victim's family”.

In April 2017, Zhang went to the University of Illinois in the United States to study. She later disappeared and was last seen June 9, 2017, entering Christensen's car near a bus stop on campus.

The FBI arrested Christensen on June 30 and charged him with kidnapping and killing Zhang.

The trial was pushed back from April to June 3, since the defense lawyer for Christensen asked for more time to prepare.

Shadid acknowledged the family's desire not to have proceedings start after the two-year anniversary of Zhang's disappearance.

"The victim's family has already been inconvenienced by the change of venue," Shadid wrote in February. "While it is perhaps a small consolation, (the) June 3, 2019, trial date accommodates the family's wishes."

The trial is expected to last about two months, with jury selection and the guilt phase possibly wrapping up before Independence Day. If Christensen is convicted, it would be followed by a sentencing phase to determine whether he deserves life in prison or the death penalty.

(Compiled by Yu Kaili)