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 13, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China should reform its penal code to observe the international...
China should reform its penal code to observe the international agreements it had undersigned, the deputy president of the People's Supreme Court Huang Songyu said
- OCTOBER 12, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Two Chinese drug dealers were executed by lethal injection...
Two Chinese drug dealers were executed by lethal injection in Nanjing, the capital of east China's Jiangsu province
- OCTOBER 10, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court in south...
The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court in south China's Guangdong Province sentenced to death Zhang Qisheng and sentenced nine others to terms of up to life imprisonment for trafficking 12
- OCTOBER 6, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese court sentenced two people to death and another...
A Chinese court sentenced two people to death and another to life in jail after they were convicted of smuggling the pelts of nearly 1,400 endangered animals into Tibet
- OCTOBER 2, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China cracked a 36-member gang that kidnapped and sold...
China cracked a 36-member gang that kidnapped and sold 96 women and children over a dozen years, sentencing two to death and handing the others at least two years' jail time
- OCTOBER 1, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A police officer in central China's Henan province...
A police officer in central China's Henan province was sentenced to death for robbing, raping and murdering six women
- OCTOBER 1, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Several hundred Chinese schoolchildren watched public...
Several hundred Chinese schoolchildren watched public sentencings for criminals who were later executed, Amnesty International said
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China has sentenced to death a contract killer known...
China has sentenced to death a contract killer known as Hitman number one who murdered nine people, including a friend whose head and hands he boiled after cutting up the body, Xinhua news agency said
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China denied reports that two Nepalese Maoist guerrillas...
China denied reports that two Nepalese Maoist guerrillas suspected of smuggling arms across the Himalayan border had been sentenced to death, but confirmed that they were being tried
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China said it had detained a rights activist working...
China said it had detained a rights activist working as a researcher with The New York Times on charges of possessing "state secrets," a charge which could bring the death penalty according to his lawyer Mo Shaoping
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A murderer of eight people was executed in Zhashui...
A murderer of eight people was executed in Zhashui county of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, in China
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that thirteen people convicted of violent...
It was reported that thirteen people convicted of violent crimes were executed in China's central Henan province
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
At least 22 people were executed in China a day before...
At least 22 people were executed in China a day before the Mid-Autumn Festival
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A woman convicted of trafficking some 200 babies was...
A woman convicted of trafficking some 200 babies was executed, state press said
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Nepal's Maoists condemned the death sentence awarded...
Nepal's Maoists condemned the death sentence awarded in China to two of their comrades, calling it "barbaric" and "medieval"
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four men convicted of murder, armed robbery and assault...
Four men convicted of murder, armed robbery and assault were executed in Jinan, the capital of northern Shandong province
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A private radio channel, Himalayan Broadcasting Corp,...
A private radio channel, Himalayan Broadcasting Corp, reported that the two Nepalese sentenced to death in China for trying to smuggle out arms and explosives from Tibet to Nepal were Maoists
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four drug traffickers have been executed Tuesday in...
Four drug traffickers have been executed Tuesday in Nanchang, capital city of east China's Jiangxi province, for trafficking and selling 27
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China said that it hoped visiting UN human rights experts...
China said that it hoped visiting UN human rights experts would have a "comprehensive and objective" view of its judicial system and treatment of crime suspects by police
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China said that it hoped visiting UN human rights experts...
China said that it hoped visiting UN human rights experts would have a "comprehensive and objective" view of its judicial system and treatment of crime suspects by police
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Tibet sentenced two Nepalese to death, close...
A court in Tibet sentenced two Nepalese to death, close on the heels of an outcry in Nepal over the same punishment awarded to two more Nepalese in an earlier case
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
four men, named Wang Liming, Miao Ping, Wang Xiang and Liang Shihan were executed
four men, named Wang Liming, Miao Ping, Wang Xiang and Liang Shihan were executed
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A south Chinese court sentenced to death five people...
A south Chinese court sentenced to death five people for the murder of former Phoenix TV vice president Zhou Yinan and his family
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The former vice head of the northern China's Hebei...
The former vice head of the northern China's Hebei provincial foreign trade bureau was sentenced to death after being convicted of transferring the import rights of 1,249 automobiles to the Beijing Senhua Automotive Trading Corp between 2001 and 2003
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Hu Guohua and his girlfriend Fan Shue were executed...
Hu Guohua and his girlfriend Fan Shue were executed by lethal injection in China after being sentenced to death for murder by the Shizuishan city court in the northwestern Ningxia region
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three people were executed in China after being convicted...
Three people were executed in China after being convicted of stealing six luxury vehicles and strangling their drivers
- SEPTEMBER 7, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese court sentenced two drug dealers to death...
A Chinese court sentenced two drug dealers to death after they dismembered the body of a gang member who died when transporting heroin in his stomach
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The deputy manager of a state-run company in China's...
The deputy manager of a state-run company in China's northeastern Jilin province was executed for embezzlement
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Five Taiwanese nationals were sentenced to death in...
Five Taiwanese nationals were sentenced to death in southeast China's Fujian province after being convicted of trafficking the illegal methamphetamine drug 'ice'
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
in September 2004, Xinjiang Party Secretary Wang Lequan disclosed...
in September 2004, Xinjiang Party Secretary Wang Lequan disclosed...