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
- JANUARY 13, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, Liu Xiao Ming, repudiated...
The Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, Liu Xiao Ming, repudiated western media reports about the status of Muslims in China, stressing that his government has taken the necessary measures to guarantee the rights of 20 million Muslims in China and their freedom
- JANUARY 13, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China, which executes more people than the rest of...
China, which executes more people than the rest of the world put together, held its first public discussion of the death penalty, where legal experts called for the abolition of the capital punishment
- JANUARY 11, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Xinjiang Daily reported that Xinjiang Farm Reclamation...
The Xinjiang Daily reported that Xinjiang Farm Reclamation Seventh Division Court had sentenced Jiang Nandong to death with two years reprieve for absconding public funds
- JANUARY 10, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zhan Guoping, "a murder convict who refused to confess...
Zhan Guoping, "a murder convict who refused to confess to his crimes," was executed at Jining in Shandong Province, Qilu Evening News reported
- JANUARY 9, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A U.S. congressman said that China's indictment of...
A U.S. congressman said that China's indictment of a Hong Kong Bibletrader was another reminder human rights abuses remained an obstacle in Sino-U
- JANUARY 9, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Asian Wall Street Journal's International Commentary...
The Asian Wall Street Journal's International Commentary said "China's Communist leaders traditionally celebrate religious holidays with the persecution of believers
- JANUARY 9, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Senator Natale D'Amico, vice-president of the left...
Senator Natale D'Amico, vice-president of the left wing Margherita party, tabled two parliamentary motions requesting the intervention of the Italian government in two death penalty cases
- JANUARY 9, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Xiangfan Municipal Intermediate People's Court, Hubei...
Xiangfan Municipal Intermediate People's Court, Hubei Province, sentenced to death Yu Lin, the head of a triad gang
- JANUARY 8, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Beijing said a Hong Kong trader arrested in July had...
Beijing said a Hong Kong trader arrested in July had been transporting bibles into China as cover for secretly importing banned booklets associated with an "evil cult"
- JANUARY 7, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Those found guilty of tax fraud in China may receive...
Those found guilty of tax fraud in China may receive the death penalty
- JANUARY 7, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
With the approval of the Chinese Supreme People's Court,...
With the approval of the Chinese Supreme People's Court, two men convicted of illegal fund-raising and embezzlement were executed respectively in Tianjin Municipality and Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province
- JANUARY 7, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Czech Republic's Senate deputy chairman Jan Ruml...
The Czech Republic's Senate deputy chairman Jan Ruml (Freedom Union) expressed his protest against the detention of the Chinese religious movement Falun Gong adherents to the Chinese Ambassador in Prague, Ruml's aide Jan Holub told CTK
- JANUARY 7, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court is now...
The Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court is now considering replacing firing squads with lethal injections when carrying out the death penalty
- JANUARY 7, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China should halt the execution of Hong Kong residents...
China should halt the execution of Hong Kong residents convicted of capital offences, an alliance of civic groups fighting the mainland's death penalty said in a petition presented to the SAR [Special Administrative Region] Security Bureau
- JANUARY 7, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Czech Republic's Senate deputy chairman Jan Ruml...
The Czech Republic's Senate deputy chairman Jan Ruml (Freedom Union) expressed his protest against the detention of the Chinese religious movement Falun Gong adherents to the Chinese Ambassador in Prague, Ruml's aide Jan Holub told CTK
- JANUARY 6, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy,...
The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, said that a Hong Kong man Lai Kwon-Keung, 38, faces the death penalty in China for allegedly smuggling thousands of Bibles across the border to an outlawed Christian group
- JANUARY 6, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China vowed its "strike hard" anti-crime drive would...
China vowed its "strike hard" anti-crime drive would remain a priority in 2003, with busting corrupt officials a top priority, official media reported
- JANUARY 5, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Legal Daily newspaper reported that Shijiazhuang...
The Legal Daily newspaper reported that Shijiazhuang Municipal Intermediate People's Court, Hebei Province, sentenced Zhao Jianlin and Zhao Jianbo to death for organising criminal gangs
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China imposes the death penalty for hacking and other...
China imposes the death penalty for hacking and other cyber crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In China, the Siberian tiger, the giant panda and the...
In China, the Siberian tiger, the giant panda and the golden monkey are protected species, hunting them is punishable by long prison terms and the death sentence
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A total of 23 Hong Kong residents were either executed...
A total of 23 Hong Kong residents were either executed or sentenced to death in mainland China in 2001
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Public support of the death penalty runs high in China
Public support of the death penalty runs high in China
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Death sentences are often pronounced in public and...
Death sentences are often pronounced in public and the condemned prisoner is presented to the crowd and forced to bow his head and wear a sign with the name of his crime written on it around his neck
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International believes that in actual fact...
Amnesty International believes that in actual fact the number of death sentences and executions is much higher than the figures in their possession; this is because the Chinese authorities never publish statistics on the death penalty as they are consider
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China still holds the record for executions
China still holds the record for executions
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A revised Criminal Procedure Law came into force in...
A revised Criminal Procedure Law came into force in January 1997
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On April 14, 2000, Prison governor Jiayong Renqing...
On April 14, 2000, Prison governor Jiayong Renqing of Lhasa jail in Tibet said that the number of prisoners in Tibet jails represents 0
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Domestic consumption of drugs is becoming `more serious...
Domestic consumption of drugs is becoming `more serious with each passing day', according to an official white paper, which acknowledges that `the situation is grim for the anti-drug struggle
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China also condemned to death and executed many people...
China also condemned to death and executed many people in accord with the national campaign against corruption, which was strengthened after March's annual session of the National People's Congress
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court in 2001 reopened 3,047 cases after...
The Supreme Court in 2001 reopened 3,047 cases after receiving 152,557 complaints about verdicts, according to court president Xiao Yang, China's top judge