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
- FEBRUARY 12, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese court sentenced to death a man convicted...
A Chinese court sentenced to death a man convicted of blowing up a hotel and killing six people, including his lover's husband, the official Xinhua news agency reported
- FEBRUARY 12, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese man convicted of impersonating a policeman...
A Chinese man convicted of impersonating a policeman to carry out robberies, was sentenced to death with two year's suspension by a Beijing court, the official Xinhua news agency reported
- FEBRUARY 11, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The former general manager of the Shenyang Passenger...
The former general manager of the Shenyang Passenger Traffic Group in northeast China's Liaoning Province, Xia Renfan, was sentenced to death for corruption and embezzlement of millions of yuan, state media reported
- FEBRUARY 11, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four brothers were sentenced to death in south China...
Four brothers were sentenced to death in south China for attempting to carry out two armed bank robberies which resulted in one person being killed and five others injured, state media said
- FEBRUARY 11, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China has executed 81 Tibetan political prisoners in...
China has executed 81 Tibetan political prisoners in the past 16 years and another 208 Tibetans are in detention awaiting the same fate, a human rights group said
- FEBRUARY 9, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A blind, bedridden widow is taking on the might of...
A blind, bedridden widow is taking on the might of the Chinese Government in an effort to halt "executions on demand"
- FEBRUARY 6, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Slovenian Ministry for Foreign Affairs joined the...
The Slovenian Ministry for Foreign Affairs joined the expressions of deep regret addressed at China upon the execution of the former Tibetan monk Lobsang Dhondup which took place despite appeals of the international community
- FEBRUARY 4, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Tibetans in the Indian capital New Delhi staged a protest...
Tibetans in the Indian capital New Delhi staged a protest against the execution of a Tibetan separatist by China, witnesses said
- FEBRUARY 4, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Relatives of two Tibetans, one executed and another...
Relatives of two Tibetans, one executed and another jailed for alleged roles in a series of bombings in western China, say the Chinese government banned them from talking about the case in public, the US-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported
- JANUARY 31, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Tibetan activists questioned holding the 2008 Olympic...
Tibetan activists questioned holding the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing after Tibetan Lobsang Dhondup was executed over a series of bombings
- JANUARY 31, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Tibetan protestors, who were arrested on January 30...
Tibetan protestors, who were arrested on January 30 in New Delhi while holding a demonstration outside the Chinese Embassy against the execution of Tibetan monk Lobsang Dhondup [on January 26 in China], went on a hunger strike inside Tihar jail, the Tibet
- JANUARY 31, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In a letter to Chinese Peoples' Assembly head Li Peng,...
In a letter to Chinese Peoples' Assembly head Li Peng, Parliamentary Speaker of Poland Marek Borowski appealed to China to halt the execution of Tenzin Delk, one of two Tibetan monks sentenced to die for plotting bomb attacks in protest against Chinese ru
- JANUARY 31, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Five men were sentenced to death for kidnapping and...
Five men were sentenced to death for kidnapping and murdering a 13-year-old girl in Henan province
- JANUARY 30, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Poland condemned the execution of a Tibetan convicted...
Poland condemned the execution of a Tibetan convicted of a series of bomb blasts
- JANUARY 30, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In a resolution the European Parliament called for...
In a resolution the European Parliament called for the United States, Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Congo and others to introduce a moratorium on executions "with a view to completely abolishing the death penalty
- JANUARY 28, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Chinese government defended its execution of a...
The Chinese government defended its execution of a Tibetan convicted of a series of bomb blasts and its rejection of the appeal of a monk sentenced to death in connection with the same case
- JANUARY 28, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Human Rights Watch condemned China's execution of a...
Human Rights Watch condemned China's execution of a Tibetan convicted of a series of bomb blasts, saying the trial lacked due process and the sentence was carried out too swiftly
- JANUARY 27, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Tibetan government-in-exile and rights groups condemned...
The Tibetan government-in-exile and rights groups condemned China's execution of a Tibetan activist convicted of a series of bomb blasts, saying he was not given a fair trial
- JANUARY 27, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The United States raised concern regarding the execution...
The United States raised concern regarding the execution of Lobsang Dhondup, a Tibetan activist convicted following a string of bomb blasts in southwestern China
- JANUARY 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Police in western China executed a Tibetan activist...
Police in western China executed a Tibetan activist for a string of bomb attacks in support of Tibetan independence, despite an international outcry over the fairness of his trial, the MISNA news agency website reported
- JANUARY 23, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Liao Shaohui and Liao Shaowu, brothers from Guangdong...
Liao Shaohui and Liao Shaowu, brothers from Guangdong Province, were sentenced to death, deprived of political rights and had their property confiscated by the Second Intermediary People's Court of Beijing for falsely issuing value added tax invoices wort
- JANUARY 22, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China retains the death penalty because the public...
China retains the death penalty because the public still supports the ultimate punishment, but Beijing has taken steps to restrict its use and turn to more humane ways of executing criminals, said Law professor He Jiahong of the People's University in Bei
- JANUARY 21, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
North Koreans arrested by China while trying to escape...
North Koreans arrested by China while trying to escape by boat are likely to be jailed and could face death, their supporters said as Beijing warned aid groups away from helping the refugees
- JANUARY 21, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Tensin Deleg Rinpoche, a Tibetan monk sentenced to...
Tensin Deleg Rinpoche, a Tibetan monk sentenced to death, with Lobsang Dhondup, after being found guilty of involvement in a spate of bomb blasts in western China, denied that he played any role in the attacks
- JANUARY 18, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
State media reported that 18 convicted criminals were...
State media reported that 18 convicted criminals were put to death, 11 of them by lethal injection, in an annual tradition of carrying out executions before the Lunar New Year
- JANUARY 15, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Jin Yugang, 35, was sentenced to death by the High...
Jin Yugang, 35, was sentenced to death by the High Court for murdering his colleague, Mr Wang Hong, 32, in front of a coffeeshop at midnight on February 4, 2002
- JANUARY 13, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China sentenced 10 people to death in two separate...
China sentenced 10 people to death in two separate cases in central and eastern China involving drug trafficking and armed robberies along highways, state media said
- JANUARY 13, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six South Korean men were sentenced to death in China...
Six South Korean men were sentenced to death in China for drug trafficking
- JANUARY 13, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Five convicted drug traffickers were sentenced to death...
Five convicted drug traffickers were sentenced to death by a local court in Zhejiang Province
- JANUARY 10, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Tensin Deleg Rimpoche and Lobsang...
It was reported that Tensin Deleg Rimpoche and Lobsang Dhondup, two Tibetans under death sentence for a series of bombings in western China were scheduled to begin a new trial on this day on the same charges and before the same court