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
- 2,785
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 2,785 news items on China, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- DECEMBER 20, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wu Hongke, convicted of robbery and murder, was sentenced...
Wu Hongke, convicted of robbery and murder, was sentenced to death at the first trial and deprived of political rights for life by the Quanzhou Intermediate People's Court in south China's Fujian Province
- DECEMBER 20, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On the issue of where people arrested on mainland China...
On the issue of where people arrested on mainland China for crimes committed in Hong Kong should be tried, as on the mainland many crimes are punishable with death, Ong Yew-kim, a Chinese law research fellow at the Chinese University said: "If criminals a
- DECEMBER 20, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Cheng Dongtao, Sun Zhenwu, Chang Yong and six unnamed...
Cheng Dongtao, Sun Zhenwu, Chang Yong and six unnamed people were executed in China for robbery and murder
- DECEMBER 19, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Liang Yaohua, accused of smuggling 262 cars and evading 51
Liang Yaohua, accused of smuggling 262 cars and evading 51
- DECEMBER 19, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The European Parliament drew attention to the human...
The European Parliament drew attention to the human rights situation in Tibet by adopting a resolution calling on the Chinese Government to pursue the dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama and urging the EU to link its financial aid to China
- DECEMBER 17, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The head of a Chinese kindergarten was sentenced to...
The head of a Chinese kindergarten was sentenced to death for mixing rat poison in salt at a rival school and making 70 children seriously sick, Xinhua news agency said
- DECEMBER 17, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China agreed to issue unconditional invitations to...
China agreed to issue unconditional invitations to UN investigators to go to China and study issues of torture, religious freedom and arbitrary detention, a US envoy said after two days of human-rights talks
- DECEMBER 9, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Human Rights in China, a New York based human rights...
Human Rights in China, a New York based human rights group, said that the case in which a Tibetan monk and a follower, Tenzin Delek and Lobsang Dhondup, had been sentenced to death over a bombing should be heard again
- DECEMBER 8, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six members of a gang that smuggled more than 100 kilograms...
Six members of a gang that smuggled more than 100 kilograms of heroin into China were sentenced to death in Guangdong province, which borders Hong Kong, the official Xinhua News Agency reported
- DECEMBER 6, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported by Xinhua News Agency that fifty members...
It was reported by Xinhua News Agency that fifty members of three criminal rings were sentenced to death or various prison terms by the No
- DECEMBER 6, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Dalai Lama's Tibetan government-in-exile demanded...
The Dalai Lama's Tibetan government-in-exile demanded the reversals of a death sentence against a Tibetan activist and a suspended death sentence against a senior Buddhist monk handed down by a Chinese court
- DECEMBER 5, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Tibetan human rights group condemned death sentences...
A Tibetan human rights group condemned death sentences passed by a Chinese court on two ethnic Tibetans found guilty of bomb attacks in the south west of China
- DECEMBER 5, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese court sentenced to death two ethnic Tibetans...
A Chinese court sentenced to death two ethnic Tibetans accused of setting off a series of bombs in the southwest of the country near Tibet
- DECEMBER 3, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Lista Bonino MEP Olivier Dupuis tabled a parliamentary...
Lista Bonino MEP Olivier Dupuis tabled a parliamentary question on religious persecution in China in the European Parliament
- NOVEMBER 25, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Sun Yongyao, 20, and his girlfriend, Guo Baorong, 36,...
Sun Yongyao, 20, and his girlfriend, Guo Baorong, 36, charged with masterminding and detonating a bomb at a ballroom in northwest China's Xi'an City in September were found guilty and sentenced to death by the local intermediate people's court
- NOVEMBER 24, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Guangdong police executed six people convicted of forging...
Guangdong police executed six people convicted of forging bank drafts
- NOVEMBER 21, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Hong Kong resident Cheung Tin-shung and mainlander...
Hong Kong resident Cheung Tin-shung and mainlander Cheung Siu-ngan were sentenced to death by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court for trafficking in drugs
- NOVEMBER 20, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Ruan Junxian, a man convicted of murder, kidnapping,...
Ruan Junxian, a man convicted of murder, kidnapping, extortion and assault become the third member of a gang in Guangdong province to be executed for their crimes, according to state press
- NOVEMBER 20, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, executed "Zheng...
A court in Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, executed "Zheng Huang" and Ruan Junxian for intentional homicide, kidnapping, blackmail, and bombing
- NOVEMBER 17, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Criminal Court in Thailand ordered that a couple...
The Criminal Court in Thailand ordered that a couple who were arrested and detained for embezzling over Bt1
- NOVEMBER 6, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China has executed 46 people in two days, ahead of...
China has executed 46 people in two days, ahead of the 16th Communist Party Congress, human rights group Amnesty International has said
- NOVEMBER 3, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The United Committee for the Abolition of the Death...
The United Committee for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, a Hong Kong-based group, launched a signature campaign along with religious and human rights organisations in Italy, Australia, France, the US and Taiwan
- NOVEMBER 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Another 17 people have been executed on the mainland...
Another 17 people have been executed on the mainland as part of a crackdown on crime ahead of the crucial Communist Party meeting congress
- OCTOBER 31, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Twenty-eight people were executed over a two-day period...
Twenty-eight people were executed over a two-day period for murder and other violent crimes after sentencing rallies in two mainland Chinese cities
- OCTOBER 30, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Xu Baosheng, former general manager of a state-owned...
Xu Baosheng, former general manager of a state-owned securities company in Baoji City, northwest China's Shaanxi province, was executed in Baoji on after being convicted of taking bribes and embezzling public funds
- OCTOBER 29, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six criminals convicted of murder, kidnapping and robbery...
Six criminals convicted of murder, kidnapping and robbery were executed in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province
- OCTOBER 29, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six criminals convicted of murder, kidnapping and robbery...
Six criminals convicted of murder, kidnapping and robbery were executed in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province
- OCTOBER 21, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In an article published on the "Asian Wall Street Journal"...
In an article published on the "Asian Wall Street Journal" it was reported that fifteen thousand people were put to death for alleged crimes in China every year between 1998 and 2001
- OCTOBER 18, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A follower of the Falun Gong spiritual movement in...
A follower of the Falun Gong spiritual movement in northeastern China has been sentenced to death for strangling a daughter she believed was possessed by a demon
- OCTOBER 15, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Deng Chenhui, a former employee of an insurance company...
Deng Chenhui, a former employee of an insurance company in north China's port city of Tianjin, was executed for embezzling 4