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
JULY 2, 2007UgandaDEATH PENALTY10 UGANDANS FACE DEATH IN CHINA OVER NARCOTICS
ten Ugandans held on charges of illicit drug trafficking in China will soon be lined
- JUNE 28, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: POLICEMAN GIVEN DEATH SENTENCE FOR DRUG RELATED CRIMES
a model policeman-turned-drug baron was sentenced to death while his five accomplices got varying jail terms in southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
- JUNE 28, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: VANDALS FACE DEATH PENALTY FOR DAMAGING MILITARY FACILITIES
vandals who deliberately damage China's military telecommunication facilities will face long jail terms or even the death penalty, according to a judicial deliberation released by the Supreme People's Court (SPC).
- JUNE 25, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA EXECUTES THREE FOR DRUG DEALING
three men, including a foreigner, were executed in China's southeast Fujian Province for drug dealing.
- JUNE 25, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: 7 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
China's top court announced that it had approved the death penalty for seven people for drug trafficking.
JUNE 23, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA ISSUES DEATH SENTENCES IN FAKE MONEY SCAM
a court in eastern Wenzhou city, China, has handed death sentences with a two-year reprieve to
- JUNE 21, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA SENTENCES 14 GANG MEMBERS TO DEATH
a Chinese court has sentenced 14 gang members to death for murder
- JUNE 20, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER
XU Yuhua, a Jiangxi Province farmer...
- JUNE 19, 2007JapanDEATH PENALTY
EX-STUDENT'S DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDERING COUPLE UPHELD
the Supreme Court in Japan upheld a lower court decision sentencing a former Chinese graduate student to death for killing a compatriot student and her Chinese husband in 2000 after his overtures to her were rejected
- JUNE 18, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE MAN GETS DEATH FOR MURDER OVER STOCK LOSSES
Li Gongxin, from the northeastern city of Harbin, China...
- JUNE 17, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA CONSIDERS CASH FOR CLEMENCY
Under pressure to reduce its huge number of annual executions as it prepares
- JUNE 14, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. CAPITAL CASES MORE TRANSPARENT
trials that could lead to a death sentence will be subjected to further openness and transparency in
- JUNE 12, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
FORMER CHINA FOOD AND DRUG BOSS APPEALS DEATH SENTENCE
the former head of China's food and drug agency has appealed his death sentence on a corruption
- JUNE 10, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: TEACHER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPING STUDENTS
a teacher in northwestern China was sentenced to death for raping 18 primary school girls, the second such case in the same area, state media reported.
- JUNE 8, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING 6 PEOPLE IN E CHINA
a Chinese man was sentenced to death for murder, rape and burglary and fined 520,000 yuan, according to a ruling by a court in east China.
JUNE 8, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. FEWER EXECUTIONS AFTER LEGAL REFORM
The number of people executed has dropped in the first five months of the year after the Supreme People's
- JUNE 7, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
RIGHTS IMAGE HAUNTS CHINA BEFORE GAMES: CAMPAIGNER
China has executed far fewer people since being awarded the 2008 Olympics six years ago but the
- MAY 29, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA SENTENCES FORMER DRUG REGULATOR TO DEATH
the former head of China's top food and drug safety agency was sentenced to death after pleading guilty to
- MAY 28, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA SEEKS EXTRADITION PACTS IN SPITE OF DEATH PENALTY
China has called on Western countries to put aside fears about its death penalty and sign
- MAY 15, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
a court in central China has sentenced Li Litian, a policeman...
a court in central China has sentenced Li Litian, a policeman...
- MAY 15, 2007MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIAN WOMAN FACING DEATH IN CHINA FOR SMUGGLING DRUGS
Umi Azlim Mohamad Lazim, a 24 year old woman from Kelantan, was sentenced to death by the Guangzhou High Court in China for trafficking in 2,983 grammes of heroin.
- APRIL 30, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. MAN RECEIVES DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER
the Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court issued the death penalty to a robber who killed an elderly shop worker for a few hundred yuan.
- APRIL 16, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE WOMAN, 80, RECEIVES SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE IN DRUGS CASE
an 80 year old woman received a suspended death sentence in southern China for smuggling opium to pay for her grave plot, the official Xinhua News Agency reported
- APRIL 10, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE SAUSAGE SELLER SPARED EXECUTION
a Chinese roadside sausage seller was given a suspended death sentence for slitting a government inspector's throat
- MARCH 25, 2007United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
DUO MAY FACE FIRING SQUAD FOR DRUG CRIMES IF DEPORTED
two illegal immigrants who worked on one of Scotland's biggest cannabis farms face execution when deported, their lawyer claimed.
MARCH 20, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTYFRANCE, CHINA SIGN EXTRADITION TREATY
France's justice minister said an extradition treaty signed with China would not be applied to people accused of political or military crimes.
- MARCH 19, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA'S HIGH COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCES FOR FOUR CONVICTS
China's highest court has approved four death sentences for violent crimes in its first rulings since being handed the power of final approval on capital punishment earlier this year, state press said.
- MARCH 19, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA EPILEPTIC MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DANGEROUS DRIVING
a court in Beihai, in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, sentenced a man to death with a two year grace period.
MARCH 15, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA METES OUT LEAST NUMBER OF DEATH SENTENCES IN '06
The number of death sentences meted out last year by Chinese courts hit a record low in more than a
- MARCH 13, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA DEATH PENALTY FOR DOUBLE MURDER
the Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Liu Xinglei to death for murder.