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
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
New Zealand's Corrections Minister Matt Robson and...
New Zealand's Corrections Minister Matt Robson and Justice Minister Phil Goff raised their concerns about China's use of the death penalty, and its incarceration of political prisoners during a meeting with visiting Chinese Justice Minister Zhang Fusen
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China imposes the death penalty for hacking and other...
China imposes the death penalty for hacking and other cyber crimes
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Two senior executives of real estate companies were...
Two senior executives of real estate companies were each given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve and life imprisonment by the Beijing No 1 Intermediate Court
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four criminals were separately sentenced to death for...
Four criminals were separately sentenced to death for forcing women to engage in prostitution by a court in Minquan County of Shangqiu City, Henan Province
- AUGUST 31, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in the southern province of Hunan sentenced...
A court in the southern province of Hunan sentenced a woman who blew up her husband and two accomplices to death for killing her husband and four other victims with a home-made bomb
- AUGUST 31, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
An extortionist who set off a home-made bomb in a supermarket...
An extortionist who set off a home-made bomb in a supermarket in China and wounded 27 shoppers was sentenced to death by a court in the northern city of Datong
- AUGUST 30, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Changsha City's Intermediate People's Court carried...
Changsha City's Intermediate People's Court carried out the first trial in a major bombing case, which resulted in five dead and four injured, that occurred in Liuyang City's Dayao Township
- AUGUST 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Local media reported that four members of a gang in...
Local media reported that four members of a gang in southern China that kidnapped children, mostly babies, and sold them to rural families were executed
- AUGUST 21, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Xinhua, the official state news agency reported that...
Xinhua, the official state news agency reported that a Guangxi Zhuang, "Falun Gong addict", was sentenced to death for murder by the Intermediate People's Court in the Guangxi Zhuang
- AUGUST 18, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six people who robbed a bank in central China's Henan...
Six people who robbed a bank in central China's Henan Province were sentenced to death and deprived of all property
- AUGUST 13, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Qi Huogui, described by Hong Kong-based news agency...
Qi Huogui, described by Hong Kong-based news agency Zhongguo Tongxun She as "the most serious corrupt official since the founding of Hainan Province," was executed by firing squad
- AUGUST 12, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in the southern city of Haikou sentenced to...
A court in the southern city of Haikou sentenced to death Wu Yadi, 37, a middle-ranking police officer, who was insulted by a prostitute during sex and was so enraged that he killed her
- AUGUST 10, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
TV reports stated that Zhuo Changren and Jiang Hongjun,...
TV reports stated that Zhuo Changren and Jiang Hongjun, who were among six Chinese given asylum after hijacking an airliner to South Korea in 1983, were each executed by a gunshot to the back of the head
- AUGUST 10, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zhuo Changren and Jiang Honjun, two Chinese defectors,...
Zhuo Changren and Jiang Honjun, two Chinese defectors, were executed for kidnapping and murdering a Taiwanese man in 1991
- AUGUST 7, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Woolf,...
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Woolf, in an unprecedented visit by the most senior judge in Britain to the People's Republic, attended the Celebration of Sino-Legal Exchange, organised by the British Council and the Chinese Ministry of
- AUGUST 6, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Jealousy and a desire for revenge drove a man to set...
Jealousy and a desire for revenge drove a man to set off a blast which killed 47 people in a northwestern Chinese village of cave dwellings in July, police said
- AUGUST 4, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese journalist was sacked after investigating...
A Chinese journalist was sacked after investigating a scandal involving the unauthorised removal of organs from an executed prisoner
- AUGUST 2, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Fujian Province in eastern China sentenced...
A court in Fujian Province in eastern China sentenced a man to death on two counts of sabotaging a high-voltage power line, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported
- JULY 29, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Tianjin People's Higher Court sentenced two security...
The Tianjin People's Higher Court sentenced two security officers and three others to terms ranging from 13 years to a suspended death sentence for trying to place 44 falcons on a foreign-bound Air China flight, the Beijing Youth Daily reported
- JULY 27, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Two thieves who murdered many of their victims were...
Two thieves who murdered many of their victims were sentenced to death for killing 12 people and injuring 58 others in Beijing over the past two years
- JULY 27, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Suburban courts around Beijing issued execution orders...
Suburban courts around Beijing issued execution orders for at least five criminals convicted of violent crimes, including a pair of lovers who teamed up to murder one of their spouses, the Beijing Youth Daily reported
- JULY 25, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Thailand's criminal court sentenced 19 drug dealers...
Thailand's criminal court sentenced 19 drug dealers to death, one of whom was Chinese
- JULY 25, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
One of two men involved in a tragic hostage drama in...
One of two men involved in a tragic hostage drama in December 2000 in Shenyang, which left one victim dead and two seriously injured, was executed
- JULY 24, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four Chinese were executed after a court in southern...
Four Chinese were executed after a court in southern China's Guangdong province found them guilty of counterfeiting Chinese currency
- JULY 24, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In Zhejiang province, Lu Zhengchun was executed for...
In Zhejiang province, Lu Zhengchun was executed for having produced 2
- JULY 24, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zhong Chongming, who was found guilty of robbing a...
Zhong Chongming, who was found guilty of robbing a local bank and illegally possessing firearms and ammunition, was sentenced to death and executed in Linyi, in east China's Shandong Province
- JULY 24, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in the central Chinese province of Hunan handed...
A court in the central Chinese province of Hunan handed down the death sentence to a female manager found guilty of large-scale corruption
- JULY 24, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Yang Xiaojian was sentenced to death for raping nine...
Yang Xiaojian was sentenced to death for raping nine women taxi drivers in 40 days
- JULY 22, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China has launched a campaign of forced repatriation...
China has launched a campaign of forced repatriation of North Korean refugees, according to the international humanitarian organization, Doctors Without Borders
- JULY 13, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China exploded jubilantly with fireworks after Beijing...
China exploded jubilantly with fireworks after Beijing won the vote to host the 2008 Olympics, but long-time critics said it would have to improve its human rights record between now and then