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
- MARCH 17, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: TWO EXECUTED FOR SERIAL KILLINGS
in China, Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court official Yao Lan said two men were sentenced to death and executed.
- MARCH 16, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: MAN EXECUTED FOR KILLING WIFE, MUTILATING BODY
Li Jia, 41, from Beijing, was executed in China for murdering his ex-wife Ren Liwen in March 2008.
- MARCH 12, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
OFFICIAL SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH 2-YEAR REPRIEVE IN EAST CHINA
Bengbu Municipal Intermediate People's Court in east China's Anhui Province sentenced government official Wang Haifeng, 56, to death with a 2-year reprieve for taking bribes of over 15 million yuan between 1997 and 2008.
MARCH 9, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: NIGERIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG DEALING
A Nigerian man received the death penalty in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China,
MARCH 7, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: 198 CONVICTED FOR UNREST IN XINJIANG
China has so far convicted 198 people for involvement in deadly ethnic violence last July in
- MARCH 4, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chinese man Huang Haiyong (alias Wong Ho Wing) is facing extradition
Chinese man Huang Haiyong (alias Wong Ho Wing) is facing extradition
- FEBRUARY 27, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH ON HUNGER STRIKE
three people sentenced to death have been on hunger strike since February 23 in Jiangxi, China.
- FEBRUARY 21, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR MURDERING 13
a Chinese man was sentenced to death for murdering 13 people, robbery and rape between May 1996 and January 2005.
- FEBRUARY 11, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: GANG LEADER SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH REPRIEVE
mob boss Yue Ning was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for organising criminal gangs and prostitution rackets in southwest China's Chongqing City between 1998 and 2009.
- FEBRUARY 10, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
EIGHT GET DEATH IN CHONGQING MOB TRIAL
the Chongqing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court in China sentenced two people to death and six to death with a two-year reprieve for organised crime.
- FEBRUARY 10, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
SEVEN GET DEATH PENALTY FOR TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN IN E CHINA
SEVEN GET DEATH PENALTY FOR TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN IN E CHINA February 10, 2010: the Wenzhou Intermediate People's Court in east China's Zhejiang Province sentenced three gang leaders to death for trafficking of women, rape and robbery, while four gang me
- FEBRUARY 9, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: HENAN PROVINCIAL POLITICAL ADVISOR GIVEN SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE
Sun Shanwu, former vice chairman of the CPPCC Henan Provincial Committee in China, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.
FEBRUARY 9, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA ISSUES GUIDELINES TO LIMIT DEATH PENALTY USE
China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) said it had issued guidelines for courts nationwide to handle criminal cases with a policy of "justice tempered with mercy," stressing that death penalty use be limited.
FEBRUARY 8, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: OFFICIAL SENTENCED TO SUSPENDED DEATH FOR BRIBERY, FRAMING UP INFORMANT
a former local official in east China's Anhui Province was sentenced to death
- FEBRUARY 5, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
DEATH SENTENCE FOR CHINESE GANG LEADERS
a court in Chongqing, China, sentenced Chen Mingliang...
FEBRUARY 4, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: 25 SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER KIDNAPPING
Chinese state media say 25 people have been sentenced to death for their roles in nine kidnapping cases.
FEBRUARY 1, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER 3 MURDERS, OTHER CRIMES
in China, Chongqing No.5 Intermediate People's Court sentenced former police director of Nanbin Road
- JANUARY 26, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: LETHAL EXECUTION OFFICERS READY
lethal injection is set to replace shooting as the main technique for the death penalty in Beijing, China. Executioners from Beijing's Intermediate People's Court have now finished their training, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
- JANUARY 26, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: FOUR MORE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR URUMQI RIOT
A Chinese court sentenced four more people to death for their part in bloody ethnic rioting in July last year
- JANUARY 21, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Jiang Yongsheng was executed in Chiana for multiple rape.
Jiang Yongsheng was executed in Chiana for multiple rape.
- JANUARY 20, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Gao Hualiang, an explosive maker, was sentenced to death in China
Gao Hualiang, an explosive maker, was sentenced to death in China
- JANUARY 19, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: TWO GANG LEADERS EXECUTED
two criminal gang leaders were executed by Chongqing No.1 Intermediate People's Court. Yang Tianqing and Liu Chenghu allegedly committed crimes including murder and racketeering.
- JANUARY 15, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: FORMER MOUTAI GENERAL MANAGER GIVEN DEATH SENTENCE WITH REPRIEVE
Qiao Hong, 56, former Moutai general manager, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for corruption and taking bribes in China.
- JANUARY 14, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE GAY GETS DEATH FOR KILLING GERMAN PARTNER
an unidentified gay Chinese hotel worker, 21, from the southwestern Sichuan Province was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve by the Intermediate People's Court in Zhongshan City, in south China's Guangdong Province.
- JANUARY 13, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
TWO ORGANISED CRIME GANG MEMBERS EXECUTED IN CHINA
two members of an organised crime gang in central China's Hubei Province were executed after the Supreme People's Court (SPC) approved their death sentences on December 23, 2009.
- JANUARY 7, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: SEVEN EXECUTED FOR GANG CRIMES
seven men were executed by the by the Shijiazhuang Municipal Intermediate People's
- JANUARY 6, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
TEN IRANIAN CITIZENS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CHINA
ten Iranian citizens were sentenced to death in China for smuggling drugs and will be executed over next days, the website of Iranian television reported.
- JANUARY 3, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN SOUTHEAST CHINA GANG TRIAL
three people were sentenced to death for gang-related crimes by the Zhangzhou Municipal Intermediate People's Court in southeast China's Fujian Province.
- JANUARY 1, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A revised Criminal Procedure Law came into force in January 1997
A revised Criminal Procedure Law came into force in January 1997
- DECEMBER 31, 2009ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA EXPLOSIVES MAKER SENTENCED TO DIE
Chinese explosives maker Gao Huailiang was sentenced to death for making, selling and transporting illegal explosives by an intermediate court in Handan according to the official Xinhua News Agency.