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
- 2,785
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 2,785 news items on China, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- MAY 18, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. THREE PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ELECTION MURDERS
Hu Jialong, Chen Riwen and Chen Dedao were sentenced to death by the Wenzhou Intermediate People's Court, China, after convicting them of killing a candidate supporter in a local election.
- MAY 17, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. DOORMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING
the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced nightclub bouncer Liu Zhenli to death for manslaughter for ordering an attack that killed one man.
- MAY 16, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. 4 MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
a multimillionaire and three contract killers were sentenced to death in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, for killing a business rival and injuring two others. Another 11 accomplices received jail terms up to life imprisonment.
- MAY 13, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. FARMER GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING SCHOOL HEADMASTER
a farmer from East China's Zhejiang Province was sentenced to death for murdering the headmaster of his son's school in a dispute over the boy's behavior and punishment.
- MAY 12, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. BUS CONDUCTOR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR STRANGLING TEENAGER
a female bus conductor from Beijing was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for strangling a teenage girl who was suspected of not paying the full fare.
- MAY 10, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. DEATH FOR GANG CHIEF IN MURDER
the Shanghai Higher People's Court upheld a death sentence for gang leader Qi Bing for murder in a bathhouse attack.
- MAY 2, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. BANK OFFICIAL GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR BRIBERY
Wen Mengjie, a former official from Beijing's Bank of Agriculture, has been sentenced to death, after being charged with taking bribes worth more than 10 million yuan (US$1.25 million) and embezzling more than 4.32 million yuan.
- MAY 2, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. THREE UYGHURS FACE EXECUTION IF EXTRADITED
it was reported that human rights groups fear that three Uyghurs might face torture and even death if extradited to China.
- APRIL 30, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. FORMER OFFICIAL SENTENCED TO DEATH
Liu Zhixiang, a former railway official in China’s Hubei Province, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for good behaviour after being convicted of conspiring to injure a man, embezzlement and bribery.
- APRIL 29, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
SPAIN. CHINA RATIFIES EXTRADITION TREATY WITH SPAIN, NOT TO EXECUTE REPATRIATES
China ratified an extradition treaty with Spain, the first such treaty the communist nation has signed with a developed western country, in which Beijing agreed not to execute repatriated criminals.
- APRIL 27, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. 10 PEOPLE EXECUTED AHEAD OF LABOR DAY HOLIDAY
China executed 10 people for crimes ranging from rape to drug trafficking in an apparent attempt to discourage people from committing crimes during the upcoming Labor Day holiday. Authorities carried out the executions by lethal injection in several pro
- APRIL 27, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TRIO GET DEATH FOR KILLING 9 PROSTITUTES
a Chinese court has sentenced three men to death for robbing, raping and killing nine women, most of whom were prostitutes, and then skinning one of them.
- APRIL 26, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TRADE OFFICIAL EXECUTED FOR CORRUPTION
a trade official convicted of corruption in northern China's Hebei province was executed.
- APRIL 26, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. DEATH FOR TRIO IN ROBBERY KILLINGS
three men were sentenced to death in the gassing death of seven people at an underground gambling den during a lethal robbery in Ruichang, eastern China's Jiangxi Province
- APRIL 26, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF POLICE OFFICER
a policeman from Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi Province...
- APRIL 26, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. POLICEMAN'S FAMILY SAYS HIS KILLER SHOULD DIE
the family of a Beijing police officer beaten to death in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, said they will appeal against a suspended death sentence handed to the Shanxi police officer who orchestrated the attack.
- APRIL 24, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. VAULT GUARD GETS DEATH SENTENCE
a Hunan Province court, China, sentenced former vault guard Hu Guiding to death for stealing more than 5.5 million yuan (US$ 686,042) from his employer in Pingjiang County.
- APRIL 19, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. CHINA “SELLING PRISONERS' ORGANS”, BRITISH TRANSPLANTATION SOCIETY
top British transplant surgeons accused China of harvesting the organs of thousands of executed prisoners a year to sell for transplants.
- APRIL 14, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. MAN EXECUTED FOR 7 MURDERS
a man was executed in Guang'an, Sichuan Province, for killing seven people during a series of robberies at company vaults, banks and a jewelry shop after a jail break.
- APRIL 11, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ROBBERY WITH MURDER
the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Zheng Yanpeng to death for murder and robbery.
- APRIL 10, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. RANDOM TRANSPLANT OF ORGANS FROM CRIMINALS "UNTRUE"
a senior Chinese health official described a report about China's random transplant of organs from executed criminals as "untrue" and a "malicious slander".
- APRIL 6, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. FALUN GONG BODIES CARVED UP FOR ORGANS
the Falun Dafa Information Center revealed that, in response to public exposure, officials in China had begun a massive, deadly campaign to destroy evidence of concentration camps holding practitioners of Falun Gong; at the camps, the Falun Gong were kill
- APRIL 6, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. PROPAGANDA BOSS, WEALTHY BUSINESSMAN GET SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCES
China handed a former city propaganda chief and an influential businessman suspended death sentences, state media said.
- APRIL 6, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER EXECUTED
Fu Zhongtao, a man convicted of hitting and dragging a nine-year-old girl to her death with a luxury car, was executed by lethal injection in northeast China.
- APRIL 3, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW DEATH SENTENCES ISSUED BY LOWER COURTS
responding to intense public criticism over the high rate of executions, China's apex court established three new criminal tribunals to review certain types of death sentence passed by provincial courts.
- APRIL 3, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. GOVT LOBBIES CHINESE PREMIER ON DEATH PENALTY
the Australian Federal Government raised with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao the case of a man facing the death penalty in China over the murder of a Canberra university student.
- MARCH 31, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. PIPELINE OIL THIEVES FACE DEATH PENALTY
Chinese police vowed to clamp down on pipeline oil theft, even threatening to impose the death penalty. According to police oil theft cost the industry more than 1bn yuan ($124.6m, £71.8m) and led to 2,877 arrests.
- MARCH 28, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. LEADER OF ORGANIZED CRIME RING SENTENCED TO DEATH
Zhao Chun, leader of an organized crime ring in the suburban county of Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning Province, was sentenced to death for crimes including murder.
- MARCH 28, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. CHINA BANS SALES OF HUMAN ORGANS
China's Health Ministry explicitly banned sales of human organs in an apparent attempt to clean up the country's lucrative but laxly regulated transplant business.
- MARCH 24, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. WOMAN EXECUTED FOR TRAFFICKING 31 BABY BOYS
a Chinese woman was executed for trafficking 31 children, the Supreme Court said, after another two men were sentenced to death earlier this week for kidnapping and selling baby boys.