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
- OCTOBER 2, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN COURT SENTENCES CHINESE MAN TO DEATH
a Japanese court sentenced to death a Chinese man for killing and robbing a Japanese couple who had rented him an apartment.
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA EXECUTES FUGITIVE FARMER FOR 1996 MURDERS
a farmer convicted of killing his former fiancée and four members of her family was executed in east China's Jiangxi Province.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2006SomaliaDEATH PENALTYUNITED NATIONS. UN EXPERT SEEKS END TO DEATH PENALTY FOR CHILDREN
countries where capital punishment is practiced should exempt children under 18 -- or adults convicted while minors -- from the death penalty, a UN human rights expert report said.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA EXECUTES FORMER LAWMAKER ON CORRUPTION, RAPE CHARGES
Sang Yuechun, president of Jigang Industrial and Trade Group Corp. and a former deputy to China's legislature, was executed in the northeastern province of Jilin on charges of rape, weapons possession and misappropriating 120 million yuan (US$15 million;
SEPTEMBER 29, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTYUSA. CONGRESS HOLDS FIRST HEARING ON ORGAN HARVESTING
as many as 41,500 healthy people who practice Falun Gong became involuntary victims of organ transplants and murdered between 2002 and 2005, according to a report that was presented before the U.S. Congress.
SEPTEMBER 27, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. ORGAN SALES 'THRIVING', BBC NEWS REPORT
the sale of organs taken from executed prisoners appears to be thriving in China, an undercover investigation by the BBC found.
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. GANG LEADER RECEIVES DEATH SENTENCE
Xiong Xinxing was sentenced to death for charges including heading an underground organization and causing the death of a man in Jiujiang in Central China's Jiangxi Province.
- SEPTEMBER 20, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TWO MEN EXECUTED FOR KILLING SEVEN WITH POISON GAS IN ROBBERY
two men were executed for killing seven people, including two accomplices, with poison gas in a robbery in east China's Jiangxi Province.
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
ITALY-CHINA. DEATH PENALTY ISSUE RAISED
“Yesterday and today, we brought up the issue of the death penalty with various members of the government of the People's Republic of China, hoping for a commitment in the reduction of crimes for which it is applicable,” stated Undersecretary for Foreign
SEPTEMBER 18, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. HUMAN RIGHTS TALKS HAVE BEGUN, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER
“We have commenced a structured dialogue with China on human rights issues,” stated Italy’s Prime Minister Romano Prodi after meeting his Chinese counterpart Wen Jabao in Beijing. “Dialogue is an important instrument for strengthening the preservation of
SEPTEMBER 15, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. SEVEN GANGSTERS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER, RACKETEERING
chinese courts have sentenced seven gangsters to death in two separate cases in the country's northwestern Gansu Province and eastern Anhui Province, according to the Supreme People's Court (SPC).
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. DEATH PENALTY FOR LARGEST HEROIN CASE SINCE 1949
Guangdong High People's Court, China, recently ruled on a smuggling case involving approximately 380 kilograms of heroin...
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA WILL NOT ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY, FOR NOW – PREMIER
Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, told reporters in Helsinki after the EU-China summit...
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, China, sentenced Gu Huaming to death for the stabbing murder of a Taiwan businessman surnamed Lien at a night club in Jing'an District on October 6, 2005.
- SEPTEMBER 7, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
EU. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT HIGHLY CRITICAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CHINA
just prior to the 9th EU-China Summit...
SEPTEMBER 7, 2006ItalyDEATH PENALTYITALY. GOVERNMENT SHOULD RAISE HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES WITH CHINA, D’ELIA
Sergio D’Elia, Secretary of Hands Off Cain and MP for the Rose in the Fist Party, made the following declaration:
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING HER HUSBAND IN THE US
a Shanghai court sentenced 29-year-old Danlei Chen to death with a two-year reprieve for murdering her husband and hiding his dismembered body in the trunk of a car.
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. COUPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR PRODUCING, TRADING DRUGS IN EAST CHINA
a husband and wife were sentenced to death and to life imprisonment respectively in southeast China's Jiangxi Province for making and trafficking drugs.
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. THREE MEMBERS OF CRIME RING SENTENCED TO DEATH
Ren Jianying, Tang Weitao and Tang Yongli were sentenced to death by the Xi'an Intermediate People's Court in China’s Shaanxi Province for their involvement in a crime ring responsible for 22 robberies, 28 thefts and one murder from 2000 to 2004.
- AUGUST 30, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TOMB RAIDERS GET SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCES
a Chinese court handed suspended death sentences to two people for stealing from an ancient tomb...
- AUGUST 17, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. MENTALLY ILL DRIVER WHO KILLED FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH REPRIEVE
Lin Qingqi, a driver whose car hit a group of people, killing four and injuring 22 in Kunming in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, was sentenced to death, suspended for two years.
- AUGUST 12, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. PROSECUTOR EXECUTED FOR KILLING WIFE
Chen Ping, a former chief prosecutor in Qindu district, northwest China's Shaanxi province, was put to death for drugging his wife and then stabbing her to death.
- AUGUST 10, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
describing an elaborate scheme of quotas, financial perks...
describing an elaborate scheme of quotas, financial perks, and central government involvement, a former Chinese policeman said authorities were stealing organs from people detained in China
- AUGUST 9, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA DENIES IMMINENT EXECUTION OF UIGHUR-CANADIAN
China denied a report that it was about to execute a Uighur-Canadian activist it accused of terrorism, saying his trial was not yet over.
- AUGUST 8, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. 19 YEAR OLD SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Fang Lei, 19...
- AUGUST 7, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. ACCOUNTANT SENTENCED TO DEATH
Lu Weijin, an accountant in Zhongshan City in south China's Guangdong Province, was sentenced to death after being convicted of embezzling 17 million yuan (US$ 2.12 million) in bank deposits.
- AUGUST 7, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL EXECUTED FOR SPYING
a Chinese government official has been executed for spying for Taiwan, and thousands of civil servants have been shown an “educational” video of the case as a warning, two government sources said.
- AUGUST 5, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR BURNING GIRLFRIEND
the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court sentenced to death Cheng Jun...
- AUGUST 4, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. ANHUI COURT EXECUTES THREE CONVICTS
Li Wei, Wang Qianjin, and Li Ya were executed.
JULY 31, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. BANKER SENTENCED TO DEATH
Wen Mengjie, an official from the Agricultural Bank of China, was sentenced to death for corruption involving 15 million yuan ($1.87-million).