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
- JULY 20, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Mo Jifeng, a 27 year-old Internet surfer, was sentenced...
Mo Jifeng, a 27 year-old Internet surfer, was sentenced to death by a Shanghai court for robbing and murdering a friend he met in an Internet chat room
- JULY 18, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Ma Xin, a Beijing man, was sentenced to death by the...
Ma Xin, a Beijing man, was sentenced to death by the Beijing intermediate court on for counterfeiting official corporate stamps and financial documents
- JULY 18, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four ring leaders of a gang in south-west China's Sichuan...
Four ring leaders of a gang in south-west China's Sichuan province were sentenced to death
- JULY 10, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Pan Rongyu, an unemployed man from Shanghai, was sentenced...
Pan Rongyu, an unemployed man from Shanghai, was sentenced to death for multiple crimes, including assault and rape
- JULY 3, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that the Tonghua Intermediate People's...
It was reported that the Tonghua Intermediate People's Court, in Jilin Province, China, sentenced Guo Ziyu and Wu Deli to death for kidnapping and killing Hou, president of the Agricultural Development Bank, Liuhe County Branch
- JULY 2, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Five convicted criminals were put to death by lethal...
Five convicted criminals were put to death by lethal injection in the central Chinese province of Henan
- JULY 1, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that the Taiyuan Intermediate People's...
It was reported that the Taiyuan Intermediate People's Court, in Shanxi Province, China, tried 17 suspects and sentenced Zhuang Xiaodong to death with two years reprieve
- JUNE 28, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chinese President Hu Jintao praised the merits of his...
Chinese President Hu Jintao praised the merits of his country's "strike hard" against crime campaign, which resulted in the execution of scores of criminals since April 2001, state press reported
- JUNE 27, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Qiao Yanqin was executed in southern China's Guangdong...
Qiao Yanqin was executed in southern China's Guangdong province for his role in the beating to death of a migrant worker in a detention centre
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
State media reported that four drug traffickers were...
State media reported that four drug traffickers were executed in Changsha City, capital of south China's Hunan Province, and 17 others were sentenced to death
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wang Xiongyin, "convicted drug peddler", was sentenced...
Wang Xiongyin, "convicted drug peddler", was sentenced to death in Guangzhou as China marked International Anti-Drugs Day
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai Daily reported that local courts had convicted...
The Shanghai Daily reported that local courts had convicted 67 people for "severe crimes such as drug trafficking and drug making," sentencing them variously to more than five years imprisonment, life sentence and the death penalty
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chang Chi-hsien, a Taiwanese man convicted of drug...
Chang Chi-hsien, a Taiwanese man convicted of drug trafficking, was executed in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen, the Beijing Times newspaper said
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced...
The Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Uygur woman from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to death with probation for drug related crimes, no further details were given
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Drug enforcement personnel in Chengdu, Sichuan Province,...
Drug enforcement personnel in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, escorted six drug traffickers to the execution ground, including Yu Wulin
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court, China,...
The Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court, China, approved the execution of 11 "principal drug traffickers", including Li Jinghua, Feng Haizhou and Li Xuejun
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Xian, Baoji, Xianyang, Yan'an,...
It was reported that Xian, Baoji, Xianyang, Yan'an, and Yulin Intermediate People's Courts, in Shaanxi Province, China, tried 25 drug cases, sentencing eight people to death including Zhou Kexue, Wang Xinmin and Feng Cuiqiong
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chinese state media reported that "courts at different...
Chinese state media reported that "courts at different levels in Jiangsu Province tried 53 drug cases and punished 74 suspects
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Henan Provincial Higher People's Court, China,...
The Henan Provincial Higher People's Court, China, sentenced Zheng Ziyi and Liu Guobo to death and Ran Lingxiang to death with two years reprieve
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chen Xulun was sentenced to death by the Hangzhou Intermediate...
Chen Xulun was sentenced to death by the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court, Zhejiang Province, China, after being found guilty of trafficking in 10,175 ecstasy pills and 207 g of ketamine powder
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Chongqing Number One Intermediate People's Court...
The Chongqing Number One Intermediate People's Court executed a number of "drug criminals" including: Huang Kaiming, who was found in possession of 14 kg of heroin; Ji Shirong, 61, and Li Chunxiang, a female, age 38, found guilty of buying heroin in Burma
- JUNE 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Seven people in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous...
Seven people in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were put to death by lethal injection, it was the first time the region had used such a method of execution
- JUNE 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Xie Zhonghua and Wu Jiang were executed after being...
Xie Zhonghua and Wu Jiang were executed after being convicted of murdering a police officer in Zhanjiang City, south China's Guangdong Province
- JUNE 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Shao Jibin, Gao Feng, Wu Ming and Liu Baohong were executed
Shao Jibin, Gao Feng, Wu Ming and Liu Baohong were executed
- JUNE 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The No 2 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing executed...
The No 2 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing executed six people on the order of the Supreme People's Court for their direct involvement in drug-related crimes
- JUNE 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three convicted drug traffickers were executed in Shenzhen...
Three convicted drug traffickers were executed in Shenzhen city in South China's Guangdong Province, state media reported
- JUNE 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In its initial trial, the Urumqi Intermediate People's...
In its initial trial, the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court, in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, sentenced Deng Guanwei and Ceng Jianxiang to death for trafficking in 4
- JUNE 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Fujian Provincial Higher People's Court, China,...
The Fujian Provincial Higher People's Court, China, tried Wu Wenchuan, Lin Jianguo, Xu Guangming and others for drug smuggling, trafficking, transporting, and manufacturing
- JUNE 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
With the approval of the Higher People's Court, the...
With the approval of the Higher People's Court, the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court, in Sichuan Province, China, tried 12 "drug criminals" and executed six "principal criminals", including Wu Kaiyou
- JUNE 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In its initial trial, the Foshan Intermediate People's...
In its initial trial, the Foshan Intermediate People's Court, in Guangdong Province, China, sentenced Shen Weilun, Li Zongming and Li Jianhang to death and sentenced Liao Youchi to death with reprieve