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
- MAY 21, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE COURT BACKS SENTENCE FOR POLICE CHIEF
Chongqing Municipal Higher People's Court in southern China upheld the death penalty of former police chief Wen Qiang...
- MAY 20, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA OFFICIAL GETS SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR GRAFT
a former top official at China's commerce ministry was given a suspended death sentence for graft including taking bribes from electronics giant GOME, state media said.
- MAY 18, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: PLUMBER EXECUTED FOR KILLING EX-WIFE OVER ASSETS
plumber Ren Wenli, 41, from Shijingshan district in China, was executed for the murder and dismemberment of his ex-wife surnamed Liu.
- MAY 17, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: LEADERS OF CHONGQING CRIME-RING HAVE APPEALS HEARD
China's Chongqing Municipal Higher People's Court heard appeals against the death sentences of alleged crime boss Fan Qihang and his associate Wu Chuanjiang.
- MAY 15, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CHINA FOR SCHOOL ATTACK
a court in eastern China sentenced unemployed man Xu Yuyuan to death for knifing 29 children and three adults with a meat cleaver at a kindergarten at Zhongxin nursery school in Taixing city on April 29, 2010.
MAY 14, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: TOMB ROBBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Four tomb robbers were sentenced to death for stealing more than 200 relics, including 11 items listed for the state's top level of protection, from ancient tombs in central China's Hunan Province.
- MAY 13, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: CONVICTED EX-TOP COP ASKS FOR LENIENCY
Wen Qiang, 54, former deputy police chief in Chongqing, China, appealed against his death sentence for protecting gangs, bribery, rape and property scamming during his second trial and asked for a lenient sentence.
- MAY 13, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: FORMER JUDICIAL OFFICIAL APPEALS DEATH SENTENCE
former high-ranking judicial official Wen Qiang, 54, appealed his death sentence in southwest China's Chongqing Higher People's Court.
MAY 12, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: TWO DRUG DEALERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Two drug traffickers have been sentenced to death for dealing large amounts of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice", in east China's Zhejiang Province, sources with the local court said.
- MAY 9, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA 'MURDER VICTIM' FOUND ALIVE
a Chinese man who spent almost 10 years in jail for murder was freed after his supposed victim was found alive. Zhao Zuohai's neighbour Zhao Zhenshang disappeared after they had fought and Zuohai was charged when a headless, decomposed body was found 18 m
- MAY 5, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: DEATH SENTENCE OVER MURDER, HOSPITAL HOSTAGE TAKING
a man who took eight people hostage in a hospital after killing the brother of his ex-wife was sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court of Fuzhou City in east China's Fujian Province.
- APRIL 28, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA EXECUTES MAN FOR MURDERING EIGHT CHILDREN
former community doctor Zheng Minsheng, 42, was executed by shooting in Nanping, China, for stabbing eight young children to death at a primary school in the same city.
- APRIL 23, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: 20YO MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR ROBBING AND KILLING PROSTITUTE IN XIAMEN
a 20-year-old Jiangxi migrant worker at a construction site, surnamed Yu, was sentenced to death by the Xiamen Intermediate People's Court in China for robbing and murdering prostitute Ah Zhu.
- APRIL 23, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG LORDS USING AIDS PATIENTS
two leaders of a gang in north China's Henan Province were sentenced to death for drug smuggling using AIDS patients.
- APRIL 20, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR CHILD MURDERS
the provincial high court in China's Fujian province upheld the death sentence against former doctor Zheng Minsheng for stabbing eight children to death outside their school on March 23, 2010, in a fit of rage after splitting up with his girlfriend.
APRIL 16, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: WOMAN GETS DEATH FOR CHILD TRAFFICKING
A court in central China's Hubei Province sentenced a woman to death and another two
- APRIL 15, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: FORMER BANKER GETS DEATH SENTENCE WITH REPRIEVE FOR GRAFT
Wang Yi, 54, former vice president of the China Development Bank...
- APRIL 14, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: DEATH PENALTY FOR FORMER POLICE CHIEF
former police chief Wen Qiang, 55,was sentenced to death in China for taking bribes
APRIL 9, 2010JapanDEATH PENALTYCHINA: THREE JAPANESE EXECUTED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
the Chinese Supreme People's Court announced that Japanese nationals Teruo Takeda, 67, Hironori Ukai
APRIL 9, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYSOUTH AFRICAN WOMAN GETS DEATH PENALTY IN CHINA FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
a court in China upheld the death sentence awarded to South African woman Janice Bronwyn Linden, 35, for smuggling drugs into the country, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
- APRIL 6, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA EXECUTES JAPANESE FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
China executed Japanese man Mitsunobu Akano in Liaoning province for drug smuggling, the Supreme People's Court announced.
- APRIL 2, 2010JapanDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: THREE JAPANESE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH
China informed Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada that it will execute Japanese nationals Teruo Takeda, 67, Hironori Ukai, 48, and Katsuo Mori, 67, for drug-smuggling
- APRIL 2, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR ADOPTIVE-MUM MURDER
in China, the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court handed Mao Xingguo...
- APRIL 1, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed five persons for drug-related crimes.
China executed five persons for drug-related crimes.
- MARCH 30, 2010JapanDEATH PENALTY
CHINA TO EXECUTE JAPANESE MAN FOR SMUGGLING STIMULANTS POSSIBLY MONDAY
China told Japan that Beijing will execute, as early as next Monday, a Japanese man, Japanese government sources said.
- MARCH 29, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
AMNESTY URGES CHINA TO DISCLOSE EXECUTION FIGURES
Rights group Amnesty International urged China to disclose the number of prisoners it executes.
- MARCH 26, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: SUSPENDED DEATH PENALTY FOR MOUTAI EX-BOSS UPHELD
the Higher People's Court in southwest China's Guizhou province upheld a suspended death sentence with a two year reprieve for Qiao Hong, former liquor maker Kweichow Moutai general manager.
- MARCH 26, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: OFFICIAL EXECUTED FOR EMBEZZLING PUBLIC FUNDS
government official Li Shubiao, 46, was executed for corruption and embezzlement in central China's Hunan province.
MARCH 25, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: TWO EXECUTED IN KIDNAPPING CRACKDOWN
in southern China, the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen announced that Xu
- MARCH 17, 2010MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: UMI'S DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED TO LIFE TERM
China commuted the death sentence of Malaysian national Umi Azlim Mohamad Lazim, 26, to life imprisonment.