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). Amnesty International has said that 1,263 people were put to death in China during 1999. Over the past decade China's own media has reported 27,599 death sentences and 18,194 executions, according to a recent Amnesty International report.