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
- AUGUST 31, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The former deputy manager of the state-run International...
The former deputy manager of the state-run International Trade and Development Corp, Qiao Benping, was executed in China's northe-astern province of Jilin for embezzling 14
- AUGUST 26, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zhang Kunpeng, Xu Lei and Hu Guofeng, were executed...
Zhang Kunpeng, Xu Lei and Hu Guofeng, were executed in China on order of the Shanghai Higher People's Court
- AUGUST 25, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese woman facing possible execution for trafficking...
A Chinese woman facing possible execution for trafficking heroin was forced by police to have an abortion so she could be punished, Afp reported
- AUGUST 20, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Li Yijiang, a man convicted of killing and cutting...
Li Yijiang, a man convicted of killing and cutting off the genitals of six men he accused of gang-raping him, was executed
- AUGUST 19, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
three men, named Zu Feng, Sun Liang, and Sun Liansheng were executed
three men, named Zu Feng, Sun Liang, and Sun Liansheng were executed
- AUGUST 16, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A relics conservation official was sentenced to death...
A relics conservation official was sentenced to death in what state media described as the largest antiquities theft case since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949
- AUGUST 12, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four leaders of a crime gang in southern China were...
Four leaders of a crime gang in southern China were sentenced to death after being convicted of a series of offences including injuries and one killing
- AUGUST 10, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China should consider using the death penalty less...
China should consider using the death penalty less widely for corruption cases and abolishing it altogether for non-violent crimes, the semi-official China News service quoted legal experts as saying
- AUGUST 8, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
three leaders of a crime gang in southern China were sentenced to death
three leaders of a crime gang in southern China were sentenced to death
- AUGUST 3, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Eleven members of a mafia-style gang were sentenced...
Eleven members of a mafia-style gang were sentenced to death by a court in northwest China for crimes ranging from murder to robbery and gambling
- JULY 31, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zhang Shuzhen, a woman who killed her gambler husband...
Zhang Shuzhen, a woman who killed her gambler husband before cooking and eating part of his body, was sentenced to death in China
- JULY 26, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Twenty Uighurs aged 15 to 30 were convicted of "separatism"...
Twenty Uighurs aged 15 to 30 were convicted of "separatism" and "manufacture and storage of illegal weapons" by a court in China's Xinjiang region, and one of them had been executed, a court official as well as a Uighur organisation in exile said
- JULY 25, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Five people were sentenced to death in central China...
Five people were sentenced to death in central China for breaching oil pipelines more than 40 times to steal 450 tones of crude oil, the Xinhua News agency said
- JULY 23, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Yulin City Intermediate People's Court in Guangxi...
The Yulin City Intermediate People's Court in Guangxi province, southern China, convicted 52 people for baby trafficking, sentencing the two ringleaders, Xie Deming and Cui Wenxian, to death in a case that came to light after they were caught transporting
- JULY 23, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese court sentenced two businessmen to death...
A Chinese court sentenced two businessmen to death and gave life sentences to three others accused of murdering a billionaire in eastern China
- JULY 21, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China has executed two separatists from its muslim...
China has executed two separatists from its muslim Uighur ethnic minority and jailed 16 to terms ranging from five years to life on charges of damaging national security
- JULY 20, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four main culprits of a 60-member organized crime ring...
Four main culprits of a 60-member organized crime ring were executed in Shaoyang city, central-south China's Hunan Province
- JULY 19, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai No
The Shanghai No
- JULY 18, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Stung by international criticism, China announced it...
Stung by international criticism, China announced it was holding a retrial of two Nepalese on death row but warned this should not be used as an excuse to target the Chinese judicial system
- JULY 17, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, China, handed...
Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, China, handed Zhu Zhiwei the death sentence with a two-year reprieve for smuggling heroin to Canada via Hong Kong
- JULY 16, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A man was sentenced to death for hiring a hitman to...
A man was sentenced to death for hiring a hitman to murder his wife in order to profit from an insurance payout
- JULY 16, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
At least seven people were executed in China after...
At least seven people were executed in China after being found guilty of crimes including murder, embezzlement and poisoning, state media reported
- JULY 14, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Yang Fengrui, deputy secretary-general of the National...
Yang Fengrui, deputy secretary-general of the National Narcotics Control Commission, defended China's frequent use of the death penalty against drug traffickers amid stepped-up efforts to control growing narcotics use
- JULY 13, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Muslim has been executed on charges of seeking independence...
A Muslim has been executed on charges of seeking independence for China's Muslim-majority northwestern region of Xinjiang and making explosives, a court official said
- JULY 11, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A female official, in Qingyuan City of south China's...
A female official, in Qingyuan City of south China's Guangdong Province, was sentenced to death on charges of embezzlement
- JULY 9, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A senior banker has been executed and at least eight...
A senior banker has been executed and at least eight bank executives arrested amid reports of loan fraud and other abuses at China's state-run banks, official media reported
- JULY 9, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed its first HIV-positive criminal, Ai...
China executed its first HIV-positive criminal, Ai Haiti, a 29-year-old drug addict arrested in 2003 with 382 grams of heroin
- JULY 8, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Purna Maya Shrestha claimed that her Nepali, Ishowri...
Purna Maya Shrestha claimed that her Nepali, Ishowri Shrestha, who was facing a death sentence in China, was innocent
- JULY 8, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Two Hong Kong residents were executed in southern China...
Two Hong Kong residents were executed in southern China for murdering a friend then chopping up his body
- JULY 7, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China is using the global war on terror to justify...
China is using the global war on terror to justify repression of its Uighur community who face torture and execution when forcibly returned from neighbouring countries, Amnesty International said