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
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SPC AMENDS DEATH SENTENCE RULES
the Supreme People's Court (SPC) of China amended its rules
- SEPTEMBER 11, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SENIOR OFFICIAL EXECUTED FOR CORRUPTION
a senior official at the troubled Agricultural Bank of China was
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SENIOR LAWMAKER EXECUTED FOR CAR BOMBING MISTRESS
A senior lawmaker and his accomplice, a local policeman, were executed in Jinan for killing the official's young mistress with a car bomb.
SEPTEMBER 3, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA DEATH SENTENCES AT TEN-YEAR LOW: HIGH COURT JUSTICE
death sentences handed down by Chinese courts were at a ten-year low in 2006 and the trend continues in
- AUGUST 30, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA HANDS SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE TO NIGERIAN
a Chinese court has handed a Nigerian man a suspended death sentence, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Nigerian Obi Chinedu was arrested last year in the Central Asian border region of Xinjiang after he aroused suspicion when he dashed to the toilet
- AUGUST 28, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: DRUG OFFICIAL'S DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD
the Higher People's Court of Beijing, China, rejected a former senior drug official's appeal and upheld his death sentence and two-year reprieve, the Beijing Evening News reported.
- AUGUST 21, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA TO APPLY DEATH PENALTY TO DESTROYERS OF POWER FACILITIES
China will apply the death penalty to those who damage electric power facilities, resulting in serious consequences.
- AUGUST 20, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCES FOR TWO JAPANESE OVER DRUGS
a Chinese court upheld the death sentences of two Japanese men convicted of attempting to smuggle drugs from China to Japan in 2003, an official at the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang said.
- AUGUST 19, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: TWO EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
two convicts were executed for drug trafficking in southwest China's Yunnan province, according to local sources.
- AUGUST 13, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zheng Hongbin, 35, a Chinese security guard...
Zheng Hongbin, 35, a Chinese security guard...
- AUGUST 9, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA BANK WORKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RECORD HEIST
two bank workers were sentenced to death for China's largest ever bank theft...
- AUGUST 9, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA TWO GET DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER OF MISTRESS
two men were sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court of Zibo in China. Duan Yihe...
- AUGUST 8, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA ISSUES DECREE ON REVIEWING DEATH PENALTY
China’s Supreme People's Procuratorate issued a new decree on reviewing death penalty sentences, clarifying specific regulations in reviewing cases...
- AUGUST 3, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
EX-POLICE OFFICER GETS DEATH SENTENCE IN CHINA
a former Chinese police officer has been sentenced to death for running a 34-member gang that engaged in murder, extortion and prostitution, Xinhua news agency reported.
- JULY 27, 2007UgandaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: UGANDAN DRUG TRAFFICKER TO HANG
one of the seven Ugandans held in China over drug-related offences was sentenced to death according to Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa.
JULY 27, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR STEALING OIL
a Chinese court sentenced two men to death for masterminding a plot to steal oil from
- JULY 25, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA DRUG RELATED DEATH SENTENCE CONFIRMED
in China, Shanghai's High Court confirmed the death sentence imposed on the city's most notorious criminal gang leader.
- JULY 24, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
DEATH FOR CHINESE MAN WHO KILLED BEGGAR FOR ORGANS
Wang Chaoyang, a Chinese villager from the northern province of Heibei...
- JULY 20, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE MAN GIVEN SUSPENDED DEATH PENALTY FOR MULTIPLE MURDERS
a mentally ill man in south China's Guangdong Province received a suspended death sentence for murdering five family members and an employee with a hammer.
JULY 17, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINESE MAN GETS DEATH FOR SLAVERY SCANDAL
China sentenced a man to death and jailed another 28 people for their roles in a massive
- JULY 16, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: SEVEN UGANDANS FACE DEATH IN CHINA OVER DRUG TRAFFICKING
the identities of seven Ugandans, including two women, who face death over drug trafficking offences in China have been revealed.
- JULY 15, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA SENTENCES FIVE GANG MEMBERS TO DEATH FOR RAPE
a Chinese court sentenced to death the ringleader of a juvenile gang responsible for the rape of more than 40 girls, the Xinhua news agency said.
- JULY 12, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: MAN GETS DEATH FOR KILLING SIX FAMILY MEMBERS
Dong Gang, a native of Nong'an County in northeast China's Jilin Province...
- JULY 12, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. MAN FACES DEATH FOR KILLING STUDENT
a man was sentenced to death for killing a 19 year old university student in a robbery in November 2006.
- JULY 10, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF HK TYCOON
six of the eight people charged with the murder of Hong Kong millionaire Lam Hon-lit were found guilty at Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, a defence lawyer for the case said.
- JULY 10, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. CHINA EXECUTES EX-FOOD AND DRUG CHIEF
the execution of former State Food and Drug Administration director Zheng Xiaoyu
- JULY 7, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE COURT SENTENCES THREE
three professional hitmen were sentenced to death after being found guilty of multiple murders by a court in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
- JULY 6, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE DRUG OFFICIAL GETS DEATH SENTENCE
a former department head at China's State Food and Drug Administration agency was sentenced to death on charges of bribery and neglecting official duties.
- JULY 5, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. RAILWAY ACCOUNTANT GETS DEATH FOR FRAUD
Zhang Ning, the former chief accountant of the Lanzhou Railway Bureau in western China...
JULY 5, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. CHINESE JUDGE SAYS DEATH PENALTY APPLIED UNEVENLY ACROSS NATION, SEEKS TO UNIFY STANDARDS
China's top court will ensure the death penalty is applied uniformly across the