China still holds the record for executions

China still holds the record for executions. According to Amnesty International, China executed 1,769 people in 1998 (significantly below the 4,367 executions in 1996, when China's "Strike Hard" anti-crime campaign was at its peak), and 1,077 people in 1999, more than the rest of the world put together. 25,400 death sentences were handed down and more than 16,600 executions were carried out in China between the end of 1990 and 1998.