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
- JUNE 26, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Provincial Higher People's Court in Sichuan Province...
The Provincial Higher People's Court in Sichuan Province approved the death sentences of alleged criminals, Xiao Jianbo (5135 1696 3134), Hu Zunxiu (5706 1415 4423) and Zhang Liqin (1728 4539 0530), the Sichuan Daily reported
- JUNE 26, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Wuhan,...
The Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Wuhan, Hubei Province, convened a rally to execute eight alleged drug dealers including Wang Guanggen (3769 0342 5329), the Hubei Daily reported
- JUNE 26, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
At an open rally in Qiongshan city, in Hainan Province,...
At an open rally in Qiongshan city, in Hainan Province, alleged drug dealers Li Zhenkun (2621 6966 0981) and Zhuang Yaoxing (8369 5069 5281) were escorted to the execution ground, the Hainan Daily reported
- JUNE 26, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zhang Meixiu, a Taiwanese woman, was sentenced to death...
Zhang Meixiu, a Taiwanese woman, was sentenced to death by a court in Shantou city, south China's Guangdong province for trying to smuggle 427
- JUNE 25, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Despite their appeals, two Hong Kong men were executed...
Despite their appeals, two Hong Kong men were executed for smuggling 1kg of heroin each in their part of the operation
- JUNE 25, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Railway Transport Intermediate People's Court in...
The Railway Transport Intermediate People's Court in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, tried 17 alleged drugs criminals and executed three of them
- JUNE 25, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
June 25/26 2002: Beijing Number One and Number Two...
June 25/26 2002: Beijing Number One and Number Two Intermediate People's Courts separately executed six alleged drug criminals including Xu Chunming (1776 2504 2494), Chen Baohua (7115 1405 5478), Ma Jiyuan (7456 4949 0337), Li Bangcai (2621 6721 2088), W
- JUNE 25, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Judicial organs in Hengyang, Hunan Province, executed...
Judicial organs in Hengyang, Hunan Province, executed 21 drug traffickers, smugglers, murderers and robbers, the Hunan Daily reported
- JUNE 25, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Tianjin city convened anti-narcotics "strike hard"...
Tianjin city convened anti-narcotics "strike hard" rallies to punish drug criminals, the Tianjin Daily reported
- JUNE 25, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three alleged drug criminals, including Wang Shiguo...
Three alleged drug criminals, including Wang Shiguo (3769 0013 0948), Li Ping (2621 1627) and Hu Rujun (5706 1172 0193) were executed in Shanghai for drug smuggling and trafficking, the Jiefang Daily reported
- JUNE 24, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four men were sentenced to death by South China's Shenzhen...
Four men were sentenced to death by South China's Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court
- JUNE 24, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Judicial organs in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, convened...
Judicial organs in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, convened rallies in Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Putian to pronounce execution of 16 drug criminals, the Fujian Daily reported
- JUNE 24, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
With the approval of the Supreme People's Court, a...
With the approval of the Supreme People's Court, a court in Xiamen, Fujian Province, executed an alleged drug trafficker from Taiwan, Li Yuzhang (2621 3022 3864), the People's Daily reported
- JUNE 23, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In its final trial, railway transport courts in Chengdu,...
In its final trial, railway transport courts in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and Guiyang, Guizhou Province, sentenced five alleged drug traffickers, including Liu Quanyu (0491 0356 3768), Yang Fen (2799 5358), female, Zhang Xiaohui (1728 1420 2585), Ma Lian
- JUNE 22, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A barber from Hong Kong whose death sentence for dadah...
A barber from Hong Kong whose death sentence for dadah trafficking was upheld by the Federal Court of Malaysia, last year is seeking a review of his conviction because the chemist who analysed the dadah sample had failed to state its actual weight
- JUNE 21, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The family of a man executed for killing factory his...
The family of a man executed for killing factory his boss after being laid off insisted that Xu Yudong never planned to murder and that he should have been spared the death sentence
- JUNE 21, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Lai Changxing, China's most wanted fugitive who allegedly...
Lai Changxing, China's most wanted fugitive who allegedly oversaw a huge smuggling empire, was denied political asylum by a Canadian immigration panel
- JUNE 20, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
From 20 to 25 June 2002, courts in Jiangsu Province...
From 20 to 25 June 2002, courts in Jiangsu Province tried 119 alleged drug dealers, and sentenced seven to death, the Xinhua Daily reported
- JUNE 20, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six people convicted of homicide and robbery were executed...
Six people convicted of homicide and robbery were executed at Fuyang City in east China's Zhejiang Province
- JUNE 19, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Judicial organs in Qinghai Province, with the approval...
Judicial organs in Qinghai Province, with the approval of the Supreme People's Court, executed Chen Zhiqing (7115 1807 3237), cadre of the State Treasury Office of the Bank of China, Xining Branch, a legal newspaper from Shaanxi Province reported
- JUNE 18, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three drug dealers were executed in Dongguan, south...
Three drug dealers were executed in Dongguan, south China's Guangdong province
- JUNE 17, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Putian,...
The Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Putian, Fujian Province, sentenced Cai Penghua (5591 7729 5478) to death for assault and organizing others to smuggle themselves across the border; Lin Feiting (2651 7378 1656) to death for robbery, assault and
- JUNE 14, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
At least five people have been executed in the capital...
At least five people have been executed in the capital for violent crimes
- JUNE 14, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Jinan...
The Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Jinan Province sentenced Dai Jinggang (2071 7234 0494), director of the project office of Shandong Yitong Investment Consultancy Ltd Co (Yitong Investment Co), to death and confiscation of 100,000 yuan of asset
- JUNE 13, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A former central bank official was executed for stealing...
A former central bank official was executed for stealing nearly 15
- JUNE 6, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wan Ruizhong, a Communist Party official, was sentenced...
Wan Ruizhong, a Communist Party official, was sentenced to death for accepting bribes to cover up a mine accident that killed 81 people
- JUNE 6, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
With the approval of the Hubei Provincial Higher People's...
With the approval of the Hubei Provincial Higher People's Court, courts in Xiangfan, Jingzhou, and Yichang carried out execution orders on three principal suspects: Yu Lin, Yang Yiyong, and Zhao Hongyan
- JUNE 6, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Xiangfan,...
The Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Xiangfan, Hubei Province, pronounced death sentences on principal triad organization members, Yu Lin (0151 2651) and Li Guojun (2621 0948 6511), the daily newspaper of the Ministry of Public Security reported
- JUNE 6, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
With the approval of the Supreme People's Court, the...
With the approval of the Supreme People's Court, the Intermediate People's court in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, executed Li Lixin, a Hunan "Yiyang Bang" gangster
- JUNE 5, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Intermediate People's Court in Hainan Province...
The Intermediate People's Court in Hainan Province executed six alleged drug criminals, including Zhang Ruifa and Zhang Chunlie