China
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · In January, the Nanyang Intermediate People's Court...
- News items in the archive
- 2,796
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
China is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 2,796 news items on China, from 1999 to today.
China is believed to carry out more executions than any other country, but the figure is a state secret: no official statistics exist, and the known cases are those reported by the press or heard in public trials. Capital punishment applies to a large number of offences, including economic and drug offences, and the system also provides for a death sentence with a two year suspension, which in practice is often converted into life imprisonment.
The news on this page is a small part of what happens, and it is the part that can be documented.
Latest news
- DECEMBER 9, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: FORMER TOP PROVINCIAL POLITICAL ADVISOR GETS SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR TAKING BRIBES
Huang Yao, 62, former chairman of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes by the Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu.
- NOVEMBER 26, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
NINE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CHINA
six people were sentenced to death and three to suspended death for drug trafficking in China. Cui Changui, Li Zhanyong, Yang Linqu, Zhao Jiandong...
NOVEMBER 26, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA OVERTURNS 10 PERCENT OF DEATH SENTENCES
China has overturned 10 percent of death sentences handed down in the country since the
- NOVEMBER 23, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH REPRIEVE FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING IN NORTHEAST CHINA
the Intermediate People's Court of Changchun in northeast China's Jilin Province sentenced two to death with a two-year reprieve for drug trafficking.
NOVEMBER 19, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: OFFICIAL EXECUTED FOR SELLING IMPERIAL RELICS
China executed a local official six years after he was convicted of illegally selling hundreds
- NOVEMBER 16, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
DRUNK DRIVER SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CHINA OVER FATAL COLLISIONS
the Intermediate People's Court in Fuyang city in China's eastern Anhui province sentenced Dong Fei, 33, to death for killing two people while driving when drunk in March.
- NOVEMBER 16, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
TWO GANG LEADERS EXECUTED IN SW. CHINA
Chen Zhiyi and Yang Quan were executed in southwest China...
NOVEMBER 12, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA'S TOP COURT APPROVES DEATH PENALTIES
China's Supreme People's Court approved the death penalty of three men, it said in a
- OCTOBER 31, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
DEATH SENTENCES FOR ATTEMPTED RAPE OF 16-YEAR-OLD GIRLS IN CENTRAL CHINA
policeman Gong Cheng and car mechanic Lin Yi were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve...
- OCTOBER 31, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: POLICE CHIEF SENTENCED FOR CAUSING GIRL'S DEATH
traffic police squad head Gong Cheng, 32, the section head of the traffic police squad in Fenghuang county, Hunan, China, and Lin Yi , 40, were both sentenced to death with two-year reprieves by the Intermediate People's Court in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefec
- OCTOBER 28, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
TWO EXECUTED FOR KIDNAPPING, MURDERING CHILDREN IN S. CHINA
Kong Jinlin, 36, from Meizhou City in Guangdong, and Shu Luwen, 23, were executed in south China's Guangdong Province.
- OCTOBER 20, 2010LiberiaDEATH PENALTY
LIBERIAN JUDGE SAID ANNOUNCES DEATH SENTENCE FOR TWO CHINESE NATIONALS
Judge Blamo Dixon of Criminal Court "A" at the Temple of Justice in Liberia...
- OCTOBER 15, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF HIS FAMILY
Li Lei, 30, was sentenced to death in China by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court for murdering his wife...
- OCTOBER 15, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: TWO RECEIVE DEATH SENTENCES
gang ringleader Chen Jun and accomplice Ruan Yuming were given suspended...
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: MINE BOSS GIVEN SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE
in Shanxi province's Linfen city in China, mine boss Zhang Peiliang was given a suspended
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
MAN EXECUTED IN S. CHINA
Hu Yihua, 29, from Jinhua City in Zhejiang Province, was executed in Jieyang City in Guangdong, China, for killing four people, including two policemen, on July 2nd and 5th.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA NOT TO DROP DEATH PENALTY FOR CORRUPTION
China's top legislature has never considered scrapping the death penalty for those convicted of
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
PRISON ESCAPEES EXECUTED IN NORTH CHINA
Qiao Haiqiang, Dong Jiaji and Li Hongbin were executed in Hohhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CHINA FOR TRAFFICKING IN CHILDREN
in China's eastern Fujian Province, the Intermediate People's Court of Quanzhou City sentenced Li Diji and Wu Suiqing, both 56, to death for child trafficking.
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chen Mingliang, 52, from Yuzhong District, and Yong, 43, from Shapingba...
Chen Mingliang, 52, from Yuzhong District, and Yong, 43, from Shapingba...
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
GANG LEADER, KEY MEMBER EXECUTED IN CHINA'S CHONGQING
in Chongqing, China, gang leader Fan Qihang, 40, and key gang member Wu Chuanjiang, 33, were executed according to the city's Higher Court.
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA SENTENCES FORMER SENIOR POLICE OFFICER TO DEATH WITH REPRIEVE
former city police chief in south China's Guangdong Province Ye Shuyang...
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA EXECUTES 2 FOR GRAFT
two mafia figures were executed as part of a huge crackdown on graft and organised crime in Chonqing in southwest China.
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Liu Chung Yung, 40, from Nanchuan District in Chongqing Municipality...
Liu Chung Yung, 40, from Nanchuan District in Chongqing Municipality...
- SEPTEMBER 15, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: TWO-YEAR REPRIEVE FOR WIFE WHO PAID TO HAVE HUSBAND KILLED
Chen Liwei, 39, a Zhejiang Province native...
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: ANTI-CORRUPTION CHIEF SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER BRIBES
provincial anti-corruption official Wang Huayuan, 62, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
FORMER CHINESE OFFICIAL SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH TWO-YEAR REPRIEVE FOR CORRUPTION
in southwest China's Guizhou Province, former government official Fan Zhongqian was sentenced to death by the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes from 1988 to 2008.
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: APPEALS ARE ENSURED FOR DEATH CASES
China has taken a new move to prevent wrongful convictions in death sentence
- AUGUST 26, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA EXECUTES MAN FOR KILLING 15-YEAR-OLD
real estate employee Song Feiran, of Songxi Village, Xi'an, was executed for killing He An, 15, following a land dispute in northwest China' s Shaanxi Province.
- AUGUST 24, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
SENIOR CHINESE POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED FOR GRAFT
former Chinese Assistant Minister for Public Security Zheng Shaodong was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes worth more than 8.3 million yuan, Xinhua news agency reported.