China
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- communist state
- CONSTITUTION
- December 4, 1982, amended several times, last in 2004.
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on civil law, of Soviet derivation and derived from the legal principles of the continental civil code
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- unicameral, National People's Congress (Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme People's Court, judges appointed by the National People's Congress; local people's courts and special people's courts
RELIGIONS
Buddhists 18.2%, Christians 5.1%, Muslims 1.8%, others 0.7%, unspecified 52.2%
From the country
DECEMBER 23, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN GIVEN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR KILLING OF A JUDGE
A man who fatally stabbed a judge over dissatisfaction with her ruling was sentenced to death by a court in China's Henan province, local authorities said on December 23, 2024.
DECEMBER 19, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: HIGH COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE OF YU HUAYING FOR CHILD ABDUCTING AND TRAFFICKING
The Guizhou Provincial High People's Court in Southwest China on December 19, 2024 upheld the death sentence of Yu Huaying, who was charged with abducting and trafficking 17 children.
DECEMBER 17, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: FORMER INNER MONGOLIA OFFICIAL EXECUTED FOR CORRUPTION-RELATED CRIMES
Li Jianping, a former official in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, was executed on December 17, 2024.
DECEMBER 9, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: FATHER SENTENCED TO LIFE, GIRLFRIEND TO DEATH FOR ABUSE AND KILLING OF GIRL
The father of a 3-year-old girl was sentenced to life imprisonment, and his girlfriend received the death penalty on December 6, 2024 for the brutal abuse and killing of the child in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
DECEMBER 2, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR PUSHING WIFE INTO SEA, USING INSURANCE PAYOUT ON PROSTITUTES
A man in China was sentenced to death after pushing his wife into the sea from a ferry and attempting to claim her life insurance compensation to pay off debts and finance the use of prostitutes.
- NOVEMBER 26, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: EX-BANK OF CHINA CHAIRMAN GETS SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR BRIBERY
A court in China's Shandong province gave former Bank of China chairman Liu Liange a suspended death sentence on November 26, 2024 for bribery and illegal loan issuance, state media reported.
- NOVEMBER 14, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: 3 CHILD RAPISTS EXECUTED
Three convicted child sex offenders were executed in China on November 13, 2024, according to an official statement from the Supreme People's Court, the country's highest court.
- NOVEMBER 6, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA SAYS EX-GOVERNMENT WORKER TO BE EXECUTED FOR SPYING
A former high-level Chinese government employee has been sentenced to death for leaking state secrets to a foreign power, Beijing's spy agency said on November 6, 2024.
- OCTOBER 28, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: CHILD TRAFFICKER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING 17 CHILDREN AFTER RETRIAL
The Guiyang Intermediate People's Court on October 25, 2024 pronounced death sentence to Yu Huaying, a 60-year-old woman who was found guilty of child trafficking and abduction, after a retrial in Guizhou province.
- OCTOBER 17, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: FORMER DEPUTY CENTRAL BANK HEAD GETS SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR TAKING BRIBES
China's former deputy central bank governor, Fan Yifei, has been sentenced to death for taking bribes with a two-year reprieve, state media said on October 10, 2024, amid a sweeping anti-graft drive in the financial sector.
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: COMMUNIST PARTY OFFICIAL SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CHINA’S LARGEST CORRUPTION CASE
A former Chinese Communist Party official, accused of embezzling a staggering USD 421 million - the largest-ever corruption case in China's history, on August 27, 2024 was sentenced to death by a court in Inner Mongolia.
- JUNE 30, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA CONVICTS 99% OF DEFENDANTS IN CRIMINAL TRIALS. REVERSING A CONVICTION IS HARD
China is trying to reduce the number of wrongful convictions in its legal system. One man's more than two decades-long fight on death row shows why that's so difficult.