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
- NOVEMBER 1, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TWO PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Wang Wenliang and Wang Zhiqiao to death for robbery and murder and gave accomplice Zhang Hongmei 15 years in prison.
- OCTOBER 28, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
EUROPEAN UNION: EP CALLS ON CHINA TO CANCEL ALL SENTENCES AGAINST TENZIN DELEK RINPOCHE
in a resolution adopted in Strasbourg, the European Parliament again expressed concern about human rights in China, and in Tibet in particular.
- OCTOBER 28, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
it was reported that recently, a court in China sentenced to death Wang Renyou...
it was reported that recently, a court in China sentenced to death Wang Renyou...
- OCTOBER 27, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. MAN EXECUTED FOR LETHAL ROBBERY
a Beijing court executed Qing Hongyu for killing one of the four women that fell into his employment trap and for raping another one.
- OCTOBER 26, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SUPREME COURT TO RECLAIM DEATH PENALTY REVIEW RIGHT FROM LOWER TRIBUNALS
China's Supreme Court will no longer permit provincial courts to review death sentences so as to ensure that capital punishment is meted out meticulously and fairly, Chief Justice Xiao Yang, also president of the Supreme People's Court, said.
- OCTOBER 24, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A revised Criminal Procedure Law came into force in January 1997.
A revised Criminal Procedure Law came into force in January 1997.
- OCTOBER 21, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. MAN GIVEN SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR TAX EVASION
in its initial trial, a court in China’s Guangdong province sentenced Liang Jiayao, 39-year-old owner of Ming Sheng Leather Making Factory, to death with two years reprieve;
- OCTOBER 19, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SIX ALLEGED MEMBERS OF CRIME GANG SENTENCED TO DEATH
China sentenced six gang members to death for arms dealing, rape, murder, extortion and gambling, state media said. A court in southwest China's Sichuan province sentenced ringleader Ren Bing as well as five henchmen to death, while giving 13 others one t
- OCTOBER 19, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. KILLER OF TRIAD HEAD SENTENCED TO DEATH
despite more than 10,000 Zhaoqing residents' signatures asking for lenient treatment, Liang Jinguo was sentenced to death for murdering triad chief Long Jiefeng.
- OCTOBER 19, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wang Binyu, 27, a migrant worker from Gansu, was executed
Wang Binyu, 27, a migrant worker from Gansu, was executed
- OCTOBER 18, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. FORMER VICE GOVERNOR OF HENAN PROVINCE AND THREE OTHERS EXECUTED FOR MURDER
Lu Debin, former vice-governor of Henan Province, Shang Yuhe, Zhang Songxue and Xu Xiaotong had their death sentences upheld by a court in Henan for intentional homicide.
OCTOBER 13, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. 8 GUN SMUGGLERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN QINGHAI
four gun smugglers were sentenced to death at the first trial by a local court in northwest China's Qinghai Province.
- OCTOBER 9, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. WOMAN TO DIE FOR RAPE RING
Wang Qin, a 19-year-old woman, head of a rape and robbery ring, was sentenced to death with the possibility of life imprisonment.
- OCTOBER 6, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. AMNESTY URGES CHINA TO GO FURTHER WITH DEATH PENALTY REFORMS
Amnesty International urged China to accelerate reforms aimed at reducing use of the death penalty after a senior court official said new courts would be set up to review death sentences.
- OCTOBER 2, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
UGANDA. COURT SENTENCES CHINESE TO DEATH
the High Court in Kampala, Uganda, sentenced to death a Chinese National, Wang Nan, after convicting him of killing his uncle Kong Jishu in 2004. Justice Edmond Lugayizi convicted Nan, a 20-year-old man, for murder, saying the prosecution had proved the c
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. FAKE OFFICIAL AMONG 24 EXECUTED IN CHINA AHEAD OF NATIONAL DAY
it was reported that a man who impersonated a Communist Party official was among at least 24 people executed ahead of China's October 1 National Day holiday.
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. DEATH SENTENCE FOR TIANANMEN SQUARE MURDERER OF FILIPINO TOURISTS
Wang Gongzuo, a 25-year-old man, was sentenced to death by the Beijing intermediate court for the murder of two Filipino tourists on Tiananmen Square in central Beijing. Wang declined to appeal the verdict.
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. DEATH PENALTY WILL STAY DESPITE MISCARRIAGES OF JUSTICE
Supreme Court Vice-President Wan Exiang said China would not do away with the death penalty despite a series of recent miscarriages of justice, but would improve its review of lower courts' rulings.
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TWO PEOPLE KILLED FOR DEATHS OF JAPANESE TOURISTS
an intermediate court in the city of Xian, China, on orders from the Shaanxi Province Supreme People's Court, executed Hai Ting and Cao Xiude, two men convicted of killing three Japanese tourists during a robbery.
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TWO MEN EXECUTED FOR MURDER
Liang Guanzhong, a former police chief in Hohhot in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was executed together with Wei Jin, a contract killer, after being convicted of the murdering his mistress.
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. THREE MEN EXECUTED FOR ROBBERY AND MURDER OF CAB DRIVERS
China executed three migrant workers in Beijing for robbing taxi drivers and killing four of them, state media reported.
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. BEAUTY PRODUCTS FROM THE SKIN OF EXECUTED PRISONERS
a Chinese cosmetics company was using skin harvested from the corpses of executed convicts to develop beauty products for sale in Europe, an investigation by the UK daily Guardian discovered.
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KINDERGARTEN KILLINGS
China sentenced to death Fu Hegong , a 31 year old man convicted of killing a teacher and a 5-year-old student in a kindergarten in a rampage of rape, robbery and acts of lewdness, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TEACHER EXECUTED FOR RAPING 32 SCHOOL GIRLS
Lu Lei, a teacher convicted of raping 32 girls under the age of 14, was executed in southwest China a day before the country marked its annual Teacher's Day.
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China. Death penalty for corruption to remain for now
officials with the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislative body, denied discussions were under way to abolish the use of capital punishment for those involved in serious economic crimes.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF CALLS ON CHINA TO RELEASE DATA ON EXECUTIONS
the United Nation's human rights chief, Louise Arbour, has said she is "guardedly optimistic" that China is making progress on human rights. But she questioned Beijing's widespread use of the death penalty, warning that some of those being executed mig
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
a campaign in Xinjiang targeting the "three evils" of religious extremism...
a campaign in Xinjiang targeting the "three evils" of religious extremism...
- AUGUST 26, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. OFFICIAL SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR CORRUPTION
a local court in Central China's Hunan Province sentenced Li Shubiao to death for embezzling around 120 million yuan (US$14.8 million).
- AUGUST 23, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TWO CONDEMNED FOR DEADLY LAND GRAB ARSON
two real estate agents were sentenced to death in Shanghai, China, for torching the homes of residents who refused to relocate for a development project, killing an elderly couple.
- AUGUST 19, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. EIGHT CHINESE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DEADLY CRIMES IN CAMBODIA
a court in China condemned eight Chinese to death for a series of kidnappings and robberies in Cambodia in which at least 10 people were killed.