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
- MAY 28, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China's human rights record deteriorated in 2002 as...
China's human rights record deteriorated in 2002 as government efforts to establish the "rule of law" were undermined by political campaigns and administrative fiats, Amnesty International said
- MAY 28, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Liu Dasuo, a 46-year-old farmer, was sentenced to death...
Liu Dasuo, a 46-year-old farmer, was sentenced to death with a stay of execution and deprived of his political rights for life by the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court after being found guilty of arson and poisoning
- MAY 27, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that China executed an infamous criminal...
It was reported that China executed an infamous criminal duo known as the "brothers from hell"
- MAY 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced...
The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Yang Kunchu to death for arson
- MAY 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court sentenced...
The Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court sentenced to death Gu Xuehua for kidnapping and killing a five-year-old boy
- MAY 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In its initial trial, the Yangjiang Intermediate People's...
In its initial trial, the Yangjiang Intermediate People's Court, in Guangdong Province, sentenced five suspects to death, including Zhao Suidan
- MAY 23, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported by state that a teacher in northern...
It was reported by state that a teacher in northern China's Shenyang city was sentenced to death for raping and sexually harassing six pupils
- MAY 19, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Yuan Xiuzhen, a 46 year old woman, and three men, Hu...
Yuan Xiuzhen, a 46 year old woman, and three men, Hu Aizhong, Yang Pinwu and Chen Shibin were executed in Beijing after being convicted of violent crime, including murder and armed robbery
- MAY 17, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In its initial trial, the Guangzhou Intermediate People's...
In its initial trial, the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, Guangdong Province, China, sentenced Lan Jinquan, Chen Hongying and Jian Zhiqiang to death, sentenced Wang Jun to death with two years reprieve and Yang Peng to life imprisonment after convi
- MAY 14, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zu Feng, Sun Liang and Sun Liansheng were sentenced...
Zu Feng, Sun Liang and Sun Liansheng were sentenced to death by the first Intermediate People's Court of Beijing for cheating 160 million yuan
- MAY 14, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China said it would execute or award a sentence of...
China said it would execute or award a sentence of up to life imprisonment for anyone violating quarantine and intentionally spreading SARS
- MAY 9, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The former vice governor of China's south-western province...
The former vice governor of China's south-western province of Yunnan, Li Jiating, was given a suspended death sentence for bribery, the official Xinhua news agency reported
- MAY 9, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In its initial trial, the Jinan Intermediate People's...
In its initial trial, the Jinan Intermediate People's Court, in Shandong Province, China, sentenced two "principal criminals" to death and two to life imprisonment for manufacturing and trafficking drugs
- MAY 8, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Seventeen farmers received sentences ranging from imprisonment...
Seventeen farmers received sentences ranging from imprisonment to the death penalty from the Beijing No
- MAY 5, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Hebei Intermediate People's Court, China, sentenced...
The Hebei Intermediate People's Court, China, sentenced Hou Wanli to death, and Ma Qingli, his spouse, to 10 years imprisonment for trafficking children in central China, state media said
- APRIL 29, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Cong Fukui, former executive vice-governor of Hebei...
Cong Fukui, former executive vice-governor of Hebei Province, was sentenced to death by the Zhangjiakou City Intermediate People's Court of Hebei Province
- APRIL 29, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Eight criminals, convicted of charges including robbery...
Eight criminals, convicted of charges including robbery and murder, were executed in the Chinese capital of Beijing
- APRIL 24, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China voted against the resolution on the death penalty...
China voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva
- APRIL 22, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court announced...
The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court announced its verdict in an ivory smuggling case, imposing the death penalty on Li Wenjian, with a two-year probation, and sentencing Liang Zhiqiang to life imprisonment
- APRIL 16, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three people in northeast China 's Jilin Province were...
Three people in northeast China 's Jilin Province were given their final ruling on their death sentences and were executed on the same day
- APRIL 16, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court, in Gansu Province,...
The Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court, in Gansu Province, China, sentenced to death Li Yuanjie, 21, Peng Gang, 22, Yao Wenkun, 23, Wu Guohua, 21, and sentenced Wang Ming, 20, to death with a reprieve
- APRIL 12, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wei Licheng, 39, a serial rapist convicted of attacks...
Wei Licheng, 39, a serial rapist convicted of attacks on 15 women and four children and 20 robberies was sentenced to death by a Beijing court
- APRIL 11, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed more people than any other country in...
China executed more people than any other country in 2002, two-thirds of the known world total of 1,500, and many of those cases violated international law, the human rights group Amnesty International said
- APRIL 9, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Out of 78 North Koreans arrested in the attempt to...
Out of 78 North Koreans arrested in the attempt to escape from China to South Korea in January, 30 were handed over by the Chinese authorities to North Korean frontier guards
- APRIL 7, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China is much freer than before, but its sheer size...
China is much freer than before, but its sheer size makes it the world's No
- APRIL 4, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four men responsible for a series of violent robberies...
Four men responsible for a series of violent robberies in which five people died were sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court of Shenyang city in northeast China's Liaoning Province
- APRIL 2, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The EU read a statement at the UN Commission on Human...
The EU read a statement at the UN Commission on Human Rights expressing concern at China's "extensive use" of the death penalty and declaring that torture, arbitrary arrests and religious repression were widespread in the country
- APRIL 2, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China published its own report on the human rights...
China published its own report on the human rights situation in the United States in response to the US State Department's human rights reports which saw the US note the human rights abuses in all countries globally, except itself
- MARCH 31, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Chengdu Railway Communications Intermediate Court,...
The Chengdu Railway Communications Intermediate Court, in Sichuan Province, China, sentenced Wang Pingxue to death with two years reprieve for trafficking and transporting drugs
- MARCH 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Regional Court in Brno, Czech Republic, decided...
The Regional Court in Brno, Czech Republic, decided not extradite Chinese citizen Wen-min Zhang to China on fears he could be executed