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 1, 2008AzerbaijanDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: AZERBAIJANI ON DEATH ROW IN CHINA MAY HAVE SENTENCE COMMUTED
the Azerbaijani ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to China...
- APRIL 30, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE LOVE TRIANGLE TO END WITH EXECUTION
an 18 year old Chinese student was sentenced to death for killing a classmate in a love-triangle dispute involving a middle-aged teacher, state media reported.
- APRIL 29, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
DEATH SENTENCE FOR DRUG SMUGGLING IN EAST CHINA
a man in east China was given a death sentence with a two-year stay for smuggling 3.8 tonnes of methaqualone pills, a potentially habit-forming drug used as a sedative and hypnotic.
- APRIL 28, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
FARMER GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR SLAYING SIX PEOPLE IN NE CHINA
a Chinese farmer who killed six villagers and injured 10 others in 2007 was sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court of Changchun City, the capital of the north eastern Chinese province of Jilin
APRIL 28, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 21 RAPES
a man was sentenced to death in eastern China for raping 21 young girls.
APRIL 25, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA HEARS DEATH ROW DEFENSE BY VIDEO FOR FIRST TIME
China's top court interrogated a death penalty defendant via a video link for the
APRIL 24, 2008FranceDEATH PENALTYCHINA. EXTRADITION TREATIES WITH AUSTRALIA, FRANCE SET
China's top legislature approved extradition treaties with Australia and France. The treaty
APRIL 21, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA'S FOOD-SAFETY DRAFT: DEATH PENALTY FOR VIOLATORS
China released a draft of its food-safety law that includes imposing the death
- APRIL 18, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: DEATH SENTENCE APPEAL
in China, a Zhejiang business woman who received a death sentence for illegally raising funds appealed to the province's Supreme Court, a Beijing-based newspaper reported.
- APRIL 16, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
FORMER SHAANXI FREEWAY EXECUTIVE GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR BRIBERY
the former board chairman of a northwest Chinese freeway construction company received a death sentence, with a two-year stay, after being convicted for bribery.
- APRIL 15, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA DEFENDS USE OF DEATH PENALTY
China defended its use of the death penalty and said it planned to continue
- APRIL 14, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
AMNESTY CALLS FOR ACTION AS CHINA EXECUTES 8,000 PEOPLE A YEAR
Amnesty International disclosed that China used capital punishment far more than
APRIL 12, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. CHIEF JUSTICE CALLS FOR DEATH SENTENCES TO BE IMPOSED
China's chief justice told judges to impose the death penalty and other harsh
- APRIL 11, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: CONVICTED BEIJING OFFICIAL GIVES UP DEATH TERM APPEAL
a former district chief in Beijing said he will not appeal his death sentence for taking bribes worth 16.7 million yuan (US$2.38 million), the Beijing Times reported.
APRIL 10, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTYEP: BEIJING-TALK WITH DALAI LAMA AND INTRODUCE MORATORIUM ON DEATH PENALTY
a resolution approved by the European Parliament states that the European Union
- APRIL 8, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE WAITER GETS DEATH FOR ARSON THAT KILLED 11
a Chinese court sentenced a man to death for setting fire to the karaoke bar where he worked, killing 11 people, the official Xinhua news agency said.
APRIL 7, 2008AustriaDEATH PENALTYAUSTRIA ASKS CHINA TO REVOKE DEATH PENALTY ON CHINESE 'SPY'
Austria's President Heinz Fischer appealed to Beijing to spare the life of a
MARCH 31, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. TWO BANK WORKERS EXECUTED
Two Chinese bank workers who spent about 45 million yuan (6.4 million dollars)
MARCH 26, 2008ItalyDEATH PENALTYTIBET. RADICALS: RE-LAUNCH OF WORLD SATYAGRAHA FOR PEACE, FREEDOM AND RIGHTS WITH KARMA CHOPEL
“Our hope is that European leaders don't compromise morality and the lives of innocent people for economics.” This appeal was launched by the President of the Tibetan Parliament in exile, Karma Chopel, at a press conference at the European Parliament with
- MARCH 22, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. WOMAN BOSS GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR FRAUD
a woman boss of a beauty parlour was sentenced to death in east China's Zhejiang
- MARCH 21, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
VILLAGE HEAD IN CHINA EXECUTED FOR KILLING SIX
the head of a village in the Chinese central province of Henan was executed for murdering six people with an illegally owned gun in a series of disputes...
MARCH 19, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTYTIBET. D'ELIA, DALAI LAMA NEEDS OUR HELP
Radical Parliamentarian Sergio D’Elia said at a demonstration of solidarity with
MARCH 18, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA TO RATIFY UN COVENANT ON CIVIL RIGHTS: WEN JIABAO
China said it would ratify the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights at an
- MARCH 17, 2008ItalyDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. HANDS OFF CAIN ASKS FOR RELEASE OF DATA ON DEATH SENTENCES AND EXECUTIONS
Hands Off Cain asks China to provide data on the number of people sentenced to death and the number of executions performed.
MARCH 11, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA 'STILL EXECUTING PRISONERS FOR ORGANS'
the killing of persecuted groups in Chinese military hospitals so that their organs
MARCH 11, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. FIRST EXECUTIONS IN CHENGDU AFTER SHIFT TO LETHAL INJECTION
the intermediate people's court of southwest China's Chengdu city used lethal
MARCH 10, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. EXECUTIONS DROP 30% IN 2007
The Dui Hua Foundation, a San Francisco-based group that advocates for
MARCH 10, 2008ItalyDEATH PENALTYTIBET. RADICALS OPEN THE "FREE TIBET" MARCH IN DHARAMSALA AND BEGIN THE WORLD SATYAGRAHA FOR PEACE
in Dharamsala, the capital of the Tibetan Government in exile, the Non Violent
- MARCH 8, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SUPREME COURT REJECTS 15 PERCENT OF DEATH SENTENCES IN 2007: REPORT
China's Supreme Court rejected 15 percent of all death sentences handed
- MARCH 5, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. PARLIAMENT OPENS AMID EXECUTIONS
Ten people were executed in central China, just as the annual session of parliament opened, Chinese press reported.