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
- DECEMBER 23, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chen Jicheng, former chairman of the board of directors of a fireworks factory, was sentenced to death
Chen Jicheng, former chairman of the board of directors of a fireworks factory, was sentenced to death
- DECEMBER 23, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Guo Zhenbin, a headmaster in southeast China's Fujian province, was sentenced to death
Guo Zhenbin, a headmaster in southeast China's Fujian province, was sentenced to death
- DECEMBER 22, 2004Hong Kong SAR ChinaDEATH PENALTY
the Intermediate People's Court of Fuzhou in China’s southeastern province of Fujian sentenced five people
the Intermediate People's Court of Fuzhou in China’s southeastern province of Fujian sentenced five people
- DECEMBER 21, 2004NepalDEATH PENALTY
in the second instance trial of the case, the Higher People's Court of Tibet Autonomous Region
in the second instance trial of the case, the Higher People's Court of Tibet Autonomous Region
- DECEMBER 20, 2004North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
two North Koreans were forcibly repatriated by China
two North Koreans were forcibly repatriated by China
- DECEMBER 19, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
two staff at a Chinese drug rehabilitation centre were sentenced to death
two staff at a Chinese drug rehabilitation centre were sentenced to death
- DECEMBER 16, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
three people were sentenced to death by a Beijing court for involvement...
three people were sentenced to death by a Beijing court for involvement...
- DECEMBER 13, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
a Chinese court upheld a death sentence against Jiao Ming
a Chinese court upheld a death sentence against Jiao Ming
- DECEMBER 13, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Yoo Young-chul, a 34-year-old South Korean man believed...
Yoo Young-chul, a 34-year-old South Korean man believed...
- DECEMBER 12, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Bao Zhufa, a farmer in central China who killed five people with a hammer, was sentenced to death.
Bao Zhufa, a farmer in central China who killed five people with a hammer, was sentenced to death.
- DECEMBER 12, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Ma Weihua, a Chinese drug smuggler who was forced to have an abortion...
Ma Weihua, a Chinese drug smuggler who was forced to have an abortion...
- DECEMBER 10, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
hundreds of Tibetans took to the streets of New Delhi in a silent protest march
hundreds of Tibetans took to the streets of New Delhi in a silent protest march
- DECEMBER 9, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
three people were executed in south-west China's Yunnan Province for abducting and selling 11 children.
three people were executed in south-west China's Yunnan Province for abducting and selling 11 children.
- DECEMBER 6, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
four South Korean citizens received suspended death sentences
four South Korean citizens received suspended death sentences
- DECEMBER 3, 2004JapanDEATH PENALTY
a court in Shanghai handed down a suspended death sentence
a court in Shanghai handed down a suspended death sentence
- DECEMBER 2, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama...
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama...
- NOVEMBER 27, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
French Communist Party leader Marie-George Buffet called for the release of Tibetan monk
French Communist Party leader Marie-George Buffet called for the release of Tibetan monk
- NOVEMBER 23, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wang Lixin, a Chinese boss who forced two of his employees...
Wang Lixin, a Chinese boss who forced two of his employees...
- NOVEMBER 18, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
with the adoption of a joint resolution from six political groups...
with the adoption of a joint resolution from six political groups...
- NOVEMBER 13, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Ding Qikui was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension...
Ding Qikui was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension for killing a fellow salesman who had recruited him to a pyramid sales network
- NOVEMBER 9, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Bian Zhong, a Beijing accountant, was sentenced to...
Bian Zhong, a Beijing accountant, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in the city's largest corruption case in recent years
- NOVEMBER 6, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Bus driver Jia Qingyou, 37, was sentenced to death...
Bus driver Jia Qingyou, 37, was sentenced to death for the stabbing of 24 school children in eastern Shandong Province, China, in September 2004
- NOVEMBER 4, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Peng Hongju, a woman who was part of a gang of kidnappers,...
Peng Hongju, a woman who was part of a gang of kidnappers, was sentenced to death after police rescued her from an ordeal in which she herself was trafficked into a forced marriage
- NOVEMBER 1, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Ma Shungen, 45, was sentenced to death by the Shanghai...
Ma Shungen, 45, was sentenced to death by the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court, China, and Yang Shuxin was sentenced to 15 years
- OCTOBER 29, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chen Xiaomei, a Chinese widow who used rat poison to...
Chen Xiaomei, a Chinese widow who used rat poison to kill 10 guests at a funeral party for her husband, was executed
- OCTOBER 19, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A woman convicted in the largest case of drug trafficking...
A woman convicted in the largest case of drug trafficking in China's capital in more than 50 years was executed, Chinanews
- OCTOBER 16, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
"There remains a conviction that only a penalty as...
"There remains a conviction that only a penalty as absolute as death is just for serious crime
- OCTOBER 15, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai No
The Shanghai No
- OCTOBER 14, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Two Nepalese drug traffickers were sentenced to death...
Two Nepalese drug traffickers were sentenced to death by a criminal tribunal in the Tibetan capital Lhasa
- OCTOBER 14, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three criminals who kidnapped famous Chinese actor...
Three criminals who kidnapped famous Chinese actor Wu Ruofu and another three people, were sentenced to death by the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court