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
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed at least 18 people in the run-up to...
China executed at least 18 people in the run-up to National Day, including five members of the same family and the notorious leader of a massive prostitution ring, state media reported
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Du Huikai, Dai Yingqiang, and Shi Xiaoqiang were sentenced...
Du Huikai, Dai Yingqiang, and Shi Xiaoqiang were sentenced to death by the Luoyang Intermediate People's Court for kidnapping, murder and robbery
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
"One thing the United States and China agree on is...
"One thing the United States and China agree on is the death penalty," said Jerome A
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Shanghai sentenced Bo Jun to death for robbery...
A court in Shanghai sentenced Bo Jun to death for robbery and rape
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Five people were sentenced to death in China's westernmost...
Five people were sentenced to death in China's westernmost Xinjiang Autonomous Region in a trial touted as the region's biggest ever mafia court case, state press said
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Yao Ting, a local Shanghai man in his twenties, was...
Yao Ting, a local Shanghai man in his twenties, was given the death penalty by the Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court, for his role in an arson attack that killed two
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Li Jun, sentenced to death for killing a neighbouring...
Li Jun, sentenced to death for killing a neighbouring businessman in the market he had worked in for several years, was allowed to meet with his wife in the meeting room of the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court
- SEPTEMBER 15, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court sentenced...
The Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court sentenced to death Zhang Liangwu for murder
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Yuan Gang, a convicted police killer, was put to death...
Yuan Gang, a convicted police killer, was put to death in eastern China's Zhejiang province immediately after the provincial high court issued the execution order, state press reported
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Eight members of a gang specializing in highway robberies...
Eight members of a gang specializing in highway robberies were executed in central China's Henan province, state media said
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported by the China Daily that people involved...
It was reported by the China Daily that people involved in the illegal production, trade, transportation and storage of toxic chemicals would face severe legal punishment, including the death penalty, from October 1
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Hui Jinbo and Li Junlin, two Chinese men who drowned...
Hui Jinbo and Li Junlin, two Chinese men who drowned seven people in bath tubs after robbing a Beijing bath house, were executed
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Huang Xiaojun and Li Meisheng were executed after taking...
Huang Xiaojun and Li Meisheng were executed after taking part in the ransacking of three tombs on land belonging to the Guo museum in central Henan province, according to the People's Court Daily
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Chinese citizen Yin Zhi Hua, persecuted by her...
The Chinese citizen Yin Zhi Hua, persecuted by her country for political reasons, consigned herself to the Italian authorities in Prato, in the presence of Radical MEP Gianfranco Dell'Alba and Tuscan Radical Party militants
- AUGUST 20, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Two employees of the state-owned China Construction...
Two employees of the state-owned China Construction Bank were sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court in Xi'an after being found guilty of embezzling 412 million yuan, the China Daily said
- AUGUST 20, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Shanghai court sentenced to death Huang Ligang, 22,...
A Shanghai court sentenced to death Huang Ligang, 22, and Cheng Liang, 19, after convicting them of stabbing to death Soong Yu, 40, a Taiwan businessman living in the city, the Shanghai Daily reported
- AUGUST 19, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced...
The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Zhang Ping to death penalty for murder and gave his ex-wife Shao Yuying seven years in prison for being an accomplice
- AUGUST 16, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The high court in Liaoning province, China, gave former...
The high court in Liaoning province, China, gave former legislator Liu Rong a two-year reprieve on the death sentence handed down to him in April 2002 for involvement in the affair in Shenyang city, Xinhua news agency said
- AUGUST 15, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Liaoning Higher People's Court sentenced Liu Yong...
The Liaoning Higher People's Court sentenced Liu Yong to death with two years reprieve for leading an organised gang, intentional homicide, offering bribes and illegal possession of guns
- AUGUST 13, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Shi yongsheng, Qi Kexiong and Luo Yingfeng were executed...
Shi yongsheng, Qi Kexiong and Luo Yingfeng were executed after being sentenced by the Shanghai Higher People's Court for murder and robbery
- AUGUST 9, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Twenty-six convicted criminals were collectively sentenced...
Twenty-six convicted criminals were collectively sentenced to death in China's southern city of Guangzhou as part of a government effort to clear a back-log of cases awaiting verdict, state press reported
- AUGUST 8, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Jiang Wei and Du Shaolin were executed after being...
Jiang Wei and Du Shaolin were executed after being sentenced to death by the Henan Provincial Higher People's Court
- AUGUST 8, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court imposed...
The shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court imposed the death penalty on Cui Yun for killing his former wife
- AUGUST 8, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Li Fajian was sentenced to death for his part in stabbing...
Li Fajian was sentenced to death for his part in stabbing a British woman
- AUGUST 6, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A sterile man who killed a family of four after learning...
A sterile man who killed a family of four after learning that the eldest son had slept with his wife, who wanted to conceive, was been sentenced to death
- AUGUST 5, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court said...
The shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court said it had imposed the death penalty on Huang Shanbin for kidnapping a 10-year-old boy
- AUGUST 1, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Guangzhou, in China's Guangdong Province,...
A court in Guangzhou, in China's Guangdong Province, sentenced Zhou Chengqiu, director of the Dangerous Building Renovation and Construction Administration Institution, to death with a two year reprieve for accepting 7m yuan in bribes
- JULY 31, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Hui Jinbo and Li Junlin, two Chinese men who drowned...
Hui Jinbo and Li Junlin, two Chinese men who drowned seven people in bath tubs after robbing a Beijing bath house, were sentenced to death by the No
- JULY 29, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Li Feng, an elementary school teacher in Tonghua city,...
Li Feng, an elementary school teacher in Tonghua city, in northeast China's Jilin Province, was sentenced to death and executed for raping and molesting 19 girl students under the age of 14
- JULY 28, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The No 2 Intermediate People's Court of Chongqing convicted...
The No 2 Intermediate People's Court of Chongqing convicted six men of murdering and dismembering six people in the city's Wanzhou area