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
- MARCH 22, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six leading members of a gang of robbers were handed...
Six leading members of a gang of robbers were handed death death sentences in Shenzhen, China
- MARCH 19, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chinese national Jin Yugang, 37, was executed by hanging...
Chinese national Jin Yugang, 37, was executed by hanging in Changi Prison, Singapore, after being convicted of stabbing roommate and colleague Wang Hong to death after a violent quarrel at a restaurant on February 4, 2002
- MARCH 19, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wang Baosheng, 50, Lu Wenlin and Wu Zhijun were sentenced...
Wang Baosheng, 50, Lu Wenlin and Wu Zhijun were sentenced to death by the No 1 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing on charges of voluntary manslaughter and forging value-added invoices
- MARCH 18, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wang Daohua, Yin Yaxiong, Zhu Zhongfa and Zheng Qiukang,...
Wang Daohua, Yin Yaxiong, Zhu Zhongfa and Zheng Qiukang, four convicted drug traffickers, were executed and Wang Yan, another member of the gang, was given a suspended death sentence on March 17 in Jinhua City of east China's Zhejiang Province
- MARCH 18, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Zhong Zubin and Tang Shangming,...
It was reported that Zhong Zubin and Tang Shangming, two Chinese men, were sentenced to death in Beihai City of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for smuggling heroin
- MARCH 16, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Former Czech president Vaclav Havel condemned China...
Former Czech president Vaclav Havel condemned China for its threat to execute a Tibetan monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
- MARCH 15, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China sentences to death and immediately executes around...
China sentences to death and immediately executes around 10,000 convicted criminals every year, according to Chen Zhonglin, a delegate who was seeking to curb the practice at China's parliamentary session
- MARCH 13, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zhao Bingzhi, the director of the China Criminology...
Zhao Bingzhi, the director of the China Criminology Society, suggested that the Supreme People's Court withdraw provincial high courts' authority to hand down the death penalty
- MARCH 12, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was announced that Yelena Timchenko, a Russian woman...
It was announced that Yelena Timchenko, a Russian woman sentenced to death in China in March 2002 for drugs trafficking, could have her punishment eased
- MARCH 12, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zheng Hongjun and Zheng Jinning, two leaders of a smuggling...
Zheng Hongjun and Zheng Jinning, two leaders of a smuggling gang, were sentenced to death by the People's Intermediate Court in Guangzhou on charges of trafficking diesel oil from Hong Kong
- MARCH 10, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China might strip lower courts of the power to impose...
China might strip lower courts of the power to impose the death penalty as the Beijing News reported that the People's Supreme Court said it was "considering taking back the right to approve death sentences"
- MARCH 10, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China's top legal experts vowed there would be no let-up...
China's top legal experts vowed there would be no let-up in the war on graft, warning that even ranking officials should not consider themselves above the law
- MARCH 10, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Members of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC)...
Members of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC) and the Regional Tibetan Women's Association from Bylakuppe, Hunsur, Kollegal, and Mysore staged a candlelight demonstration at the Town Hall in Mysore, India, to draw public attention to the death sen
- MARCH 9, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China's security tsar quietly ordered fewer executions...
China's security tsar quietly ordered fewer executions in keeping with a drive by the new leadership to cultivate a gentler image for the authoritarian government, two independent sources said
- MARCH 8, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Human Rights Watch accused China of shirking its responsibilities...
Human Rights Watch accused China of shirking its responsibilities by seeking to classify North Korean refugees as illegal immigrants and return them to almost certain persecution
- MARCH 8, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Gao Pan was executed for a crime committed in 2001, possibly before he was 18 years old.
Gao Pan was executed for a crime committed in 2001, possibly before he was 18 years old.
- MARCH 5, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Xu Ming, Luo Shoujun, Cao Zhenjun, three members of...
Xu Ming, Luo Shoujun, Cao Zhenjun, three members of a mafia-like gang, were sentenced to death by an intermediate court in Dalian city, Liaoning province in northeastern China, for theft, assault and kidnapping
- MARCH 3, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Lin Qimu and Xia Yuechang were executed in China for causing an explosion.
Lin Qimu and Xia Yuechang were executed in China for causing an explosion.
- MARCH 2, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
With approval from the Supreme People's Court of China,...
With approval from the Supreme People's Court of China, brothers Liao Shaohui and Liao Shaowu, both in their thirties, were executed after being convicted of forging value-added invoices
- MARCH 2, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Beijing court sentenced taxi driver Li Pingping to...
A Beijing court sentenced taxi driver Li Pingping to death for killing seven people, three of which he dismembered, and sentenced his wife to 15 years in prison for serving as his accomplice and harbouring loot
- MARCH 1, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
in March 2004 Xinjiang's chairman Ismail Tiliwaldi asserted the campaign had improved security...
in March 2004 Xinjiang's chairman Ismail Tiliwaldi asserted the campaign had improved security...
- FEBRUARY 27, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chinese authorities reprimanded the United States for...
Chinese authorities reprimanded the United States for what it called "double standards" on human rights, after the US State Department accused China of "backsliding on key human rights issues
- FEBRUARY 25, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The United States accused China's communist leaders...
The United States accused China's communist leaders of backsliding on their human rights record as arrests of democracy activists and extrajudicial killings continued apace during 2003
- FEBRUARY 24, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Harbin in China's Heilongjiang Province...
A court in Harbin in China's Heilongjiang Province sentenced Sun Weimin, Chen Bo, Du Jun and Li Luhe to death, with a two years probation, in a major drug-trafficking case involving 94 tons of caffeine
- FEBRUARY 20, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wan Ruizhong, was executed in Nanning, the capital...
Wan Ruizhong, was executed in Nanning, the capital of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, for bribery and abuse of power
- FEBRUARY 19, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China rejected Japan's call to reduce the penalty for...
China rejected Japan's call to reduce the penalty for a Japanese national sentenced to death for drug smuggling
- FEBRUARY 17, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Seven criminals convicted for murder and robbery were...
Seven criminals convicted for murder and robbery were put to death in Beijing immediately following execution orders issued by the Beijing high court
- FEBRUARY 14, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was learned that a Japanese man in his 60s was sentenced...
It was learned that a Japanese man in his 60s was sentenced to death at a district court in Shenyang, north-eastern China, earlier in the month, on charges of trying to smuggle drugs to Japan
- FEBRUARY 14, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
According to the Xinhua news agency, the Yueyang Intermediate...
According to the Xinhua news agency, the Yueyang Intermediate People's Court in Hunan province, central China, "recently" sentenced to death Xu Guohua, a farmer convicted of poisoning 161 children at the school where he was employed
- FEBRUARY 14, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed Yang Xinhai, one of its worst serial...
China executed Yang Xinhai, one of its worst serial killers in recent history, who reportedly murdered 67 people in the course of a three-year spree, local media said