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
- FEBRUARY 12, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Wiesenthal Center, a US-based human rights organization,...
The Wiesenthal Center, a US-based human rights organization, urged the Chinese government not to return a North Korean refugee, who claimed to have witnessed the use of gas chambers in the country
- FEBRUARY 12, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wang Huaizhong, former vice-governor of east China's...
Wang Huaizhong, former vice-governor of east China's Anhui Province, was executed in Jinan after losing an appeal for a lighter penalty in January at the Shandong Provincial Higher People's Court
- FEBRUARY 9, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China rejected criticism of its treatment of Tenzin...
China rejected criticism of its treatment of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, who was convicted in a fatal bombing, saying he was prosecuted according to the law
- FEBRUARY 5, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China defended its practice of not releasing statistics...
China defended its practice of not releasing statistics on the number of people it executed each year, while insisting that it had become more open and transparent over the years
- FEBRUARY 4, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The shanghai No
The shanghai No
- FEBRUARY 2, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Guangzhou Ribao newspaper reported that the Nanchang...
The Guangzhou Ribao newspaper reported that the Nanchang Intermediate People's Court in Jiangxi Province, China, sentenced Jiang Heping, 51, chairman of the Jiangxi Paper Group Co, to death with two years reprieve for accepting bribes and possessing huge
- FEBRUARY 1, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Luohe City Intermediate People's Court, China, sentenced...
Luohe City Intermediate People's Court, China, sentenced Yang Xinhai, 38, for killing 67 people and raping 23 women since 1999 in Henan, Shandong, Anhui and Hebei provinces
- FEBRUARY 1, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that the Sichuan Higher People's Court,...
It was reported that the Sichuan Higher People's Court, China, confirmed the death sentence for Xiao Hongbo, a low-level bank officer who embezzled 4
- JANUARY 29, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Quezon City Regional Trial Court, the Philippines,...
The Quezon City Regional Trial Court, the Philippines, sentenced eight men, including two Chinese, to death by lethal injection for abducting four Chinese children six years ago
- JANUARY 27, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Dozens of French MPs led a protest against human rights...
Dozens of French MPs led a protest against human rights in China by boycotting the Chinese president's address to the French parliament
- JANUARY 23, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Tokyo High Court upheld a lower court ruling that...
The Tokyo High Court upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced Xue Song, a 30 year old Chinese national, to death for murdering a Chinese woman and her husband after the woman had rejected his advances
- JANUARY 19, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The traditional upsurge in executions ahead of the...
The traditional upsurge in executions ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday gathered pace with 15 more people reported to have been put to death, bringing to at least 31 the number executed in a period of a week, AFP reported
- JANUARY 18, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Chinese government is planning to implement judicial...
The Chinese government is planning to implement judicial reforms that could sharply reduce its use of the death penalty
- JANUARY 18, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shenzhen Intermediate Court in China's Guangdong...
The Shenzhen Intermediate Court in China's Guangdong Province sentenced Yang Gaiqing, President of Shenzhen Huiwei Industry and Trade Limited Company, to death for smuggling and tax evasion
- JANUARY 17, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Seven people described as criminal gang leaders were...
Seven people described as criminal gang leaders were sentenced to death by a court in north China's Taiyuan city and executed
- JANUARY 17, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The controversial German anatomist Gunther von Hagens...
The controversial German anatomist Gunther von Hagens used the corpses of executed Chinese prisoners to create his exhibitions of synthetically preserved human bodies, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported
- JANUARY 15, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The central Chinese province of Hebei has executed...
The central Chinese province of Hebei has executed 16 "serious criminals" for crimes including rape, murder and robbery, state media said
- JANUARY 15, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Human rights campaigners in Kyrgyzstan called on Central...
Human rights campaigners in Kyrgyzstan called on Central Asian republics to stop deporting members of the Uighur Muslim minority to face possible execution in China
- JANUARY 15, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Shandong Provincial Higher People's Court upheld the...
Shandong Provincial Higher People's Court upheld the death sentence against Wang Huaizhong, former vice-governor of Anhui Province, for taking bribes and owning many possessions he could not account for
- JANUARY 15, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai No
The Shanghai No
- JANUARY 15, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Yunfu Intermediate People's Court, in China's Guangdong...
The Yunfu Intermediate People's Court, in China's Guangdong Province, recently sentenced Xie Guoxing to death, Shen Jianhua to death with reprieve and 14 others to various terms imprisonment for trafficking in children
- JANUARY 9, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three members of a mafia gang and four murderers were...
Three members of a mafia gang and four murderers were executed in two Chinese provinces, Chinese media reported
- JANUARY 9, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Lin Guan, a 26 year old elementary school teacher in...
Lin Guan, a 26 year old elementary school teacher in south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region was sentenced to death by a local court for raping four school girls, aged between nine and twelve
- JANUARY 8, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Two ethnic Korean-Chinese people were executed by firing...
Two ethnic Korean-Chinese people were executed by firing squad and two others were sentenced to 25 years in prison
- JANUARY 8, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Duanzhou District in China's Guangdong Province,...
A court in Duanzhou District in China's Guangdong Province, recently sentenced Zuo Chengfa, 21, to death for drug trafficking, the Xinxi Shibao newspaper reported
- JANUARY 7, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that the Xinzhou Intermediate People's...
It was reported that the Xinzhou Intermediate People's Court in China's Shanxi Province recently sentenced Shi Xinquan to death for illegally using explosives
- JANUARY 6, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that a court in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province,...
It was reported that a court in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province, carried out the order of the Provincial Higher People's Court to execute Yu Xukang and Wei Fubing for the robbery and murder of Zhang Yunting, deputy director of the Hanzhong People's Congress on
- JANUARY 5, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six drug runners were sentenced to death and four others...
Six drug runners were sentenced to death and four others given life imprisonment by a southern Chinese court after being convicted of trafficking some 58 kilograms (127 pounds) of heroin, state press said
- JANUARY 1, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Hebi Court in China's Henan Province sentenced Gao...
Hebi Court in China's Henan Province sentenced Gao Baoqing to death and five others to terms of imprisonment for the murder of Xu Donglin, director of Qixian County Grain Reserve Administration on 17 January 2003
- DECEMBER 30, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced...
The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Wang Siyuan to death for manslaughter