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
- DECEMBER 9, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The wife of a convicted killer who wants to be artificially...
The wife of a convicted killer who wants to be artificially inseminated before her husband's execution is forcing the justice system to clarify what it means to "strip a prisoner of his political and individual rights"
- DECEMBER 7, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The European Union allocated 840,000 euros in support...
The European Union allocated 840,000 euros in support of small-scale human rights projects in China
- DECEMBER 7, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Hua Ruizhuo, who murdered 14 women, was sentenced to...
Hua Ruizhuo, who murdered 14 women, was sentenced to death by the Second Intermediate People's Court of Beijing
- DECEMBER 5, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A senior Chinese Communist Party official was executed...
A senior Chinese Communist Party official was executed for hiring hitmen to assassinate a political opponent and his wife and also for corruption, the official Xinhua News Agency reported
- DECEMBER 4, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A woman in east China's Zhejiang Province gave herself...
A woman in east China's Zhejiang Province gave herself and the justice department an unprecedented challenge: she wants to have a baby through artificial insemination, for her husband who is sentenced to death for murder but yet to be executed
- NOVEMBER 28, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Chinese government officially denied that police...
The Chinese government officially denied that police had tortured South Korean drug traffickers in the process of their investigation
- NOVEMBER 27, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
South Korea and China agreed to sign a pact on consular...
South Korea and China agreed to sign a pact on consular affairs obliging both sides to give immediate notification when authorities arrest each other's citizens on criminal charges
- NOVEMBER 24, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A man has been sentenced to death for killing 20 people...
A man has been sentenced to death for killing 20 people in 15 armed robberies during the past 10 years
- NOVEMBER 20, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Two convicts were executed by lethal injection for...
Two convicts were executed by lethal injection for the first time in northeast China' s Liaoning Province, officials said
- NOVEMBER 19, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six criminals were sentenced to death, including a...
Six criminals were sentenced to death, including a mafia group accused of murder and extortion in Shandong province, the Beijing Youth Daily said
- NOVEMBER 15, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Five people were executed in Beijing, including a former...
Five people were executed in Beijing, including a former top company executive, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported
- NOVEMBER 15, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Fourteen people were executed in Xinjiang, including...
Fourteen people were executed in Xinjiang, including members of a gang who buried a victim alive
- NOVEMBER 14, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In a recent survey, 99 per cent of residents in Tianjin...
In a recent survey, 99 per cent of residents in Tianjin felt that law and order in this coastal city has greatly improved since the 'Strike Hard' campaign - the third in the past two decades - began in April
- NOVEMBER 14, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
At the opening session of the UN Third Committee's...
At the opening session of the UN Third Committee's general debate on human rights, Norwegian representative Arne Honningstad said Norway appreciated China's efforts to improve its legal system and human rights standards, as well as social and economic con
- NOVEMBER 12, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Luo Jianyu, former director of the Zhejiang Press and...
Luo Jianyu, former director of the Zhejiang Press and Publication Administration, in east China's Zhejiang Province was sentenced to death by a court at the first trial for accepting bribes totalling 2
- NOVEMBER 12, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The one-time deputy general manager of a company under...
The one-time deputy general manager of a company under the oil deposit management bureau in northwestern Shaanxi Province was sentenced to death for massive embezzlement
- NOVEMBER 11, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four Xinjiang people were sentenced to death or given...
Four Xinjiang people were sentenced to death or given suspended death sentences for separatist activities, a human rights group said
- NOVEMBER 9, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A man, who embezzled 110m yuan in state funds (13
A man, who embezzled 110m yuan in state funds (13
- NOVEMBER 8, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson...
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said she would urge China not to use a war on terrorism to crack down on civil liberties and ethnic minorities, especially in its Muslim northwest
- NOVEMBER 7, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The South Korean government hinted that it would not...
The South Korean government hinted that it would not pursue charges that China violated the Vienna Convention on consular affairs concerning the alleged failure to promptly inform Seoul about the execution of a South Korean convict
- NOVEMBER 7, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
An ex-convict was indicted in China for the gruesome...
An ex-convict was indicted in China for the gruesome murder of a woman who was beheaded, scalped and the skin from her face cooked in a pot, a police official said
- NOVEMBER 7, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The lawyer for China's most wanted fugitive, Lai Changxing,...
The lawyer for China's most wanted fugitive, Lai Changxing, launched a withering attack on China's judicial system, branding it untrustworthy and unfair
- NOVEMBER 7, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
21-year-old Zhu Hongjuan was condemned to death for...
21-year-old Zhu Hongjuan was condemned to death for smuggling 1
- NOVEMBER 6, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Two Koreans on trial in Heilongjiang, China, on drug-trafficking...
Two Koreans on trial in Heilongjiang, China, on drug-trafficking charges are likely to be sentenced to death, court sources said
- NOVEMBER 6, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The diplomatic row surrounding China's recent execution...
The diplomatic row surrounding China's recent execution of a South Korean drug trafficker appears to be winding down as China reportedly apologized to South Korea for violating the Vienna Convention on consular affairs, officials said
- NOVEMBER 6, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
18 convicted criminals were put to death in a mass-execution...
18 convicted criminals were put to death in a mass-execution in Beijing, ten of whom were shot inside 15 minutes
- NOVEMBER 3, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Han Seung-soo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade,...
Han Seung-soo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and his Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan expressed mutual regret over the diplomatic incident concerning the execution of a South Korean national in China
- NOVEMBER 3, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China failed to give a specific answer to Korea's queries...
China failed to give a specific answer to Korea's queries over the alleged torture of a Korean inmate, known as Park, by Chinese authorities
- NOVEMBER 2, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) urged President...
The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) urged President Kim Dae-jung to apologize for a diplomatic spat with China and to take action against those who tarnished the country's image in the diplomatic debacle concerning the execution of a Korean drug tra
- NOVEMBER 2, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Kim Gyeong-geun, the head of external affairs for Koreans...
Kim Gyeong-geun, the head of external affairs for Koreans overseas at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said that he had confirmed the Chinese government's investigation results into the notification procedure regarding the execution of a Korean