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
- 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
- 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