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
- JULY 11, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The right-wing opposition Danish People's Party's spokesman...
The right-wing opposition Danish People's Party's spokesman for foreign affairs protested against Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, Danish radio reported
- JULY 10, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Sydney lawyer, Rod McGeoch, who led Sydney's successful...
Sydney lawyer, Rod McGeoch, who led Sydney's successful bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games opposed China winning the bid for the 2008 event
- JULY 10, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The former president of a large state-owned enterprise...
The former president of a large state-owned enterprise based in Guangdong, Chen Shewei, has been executed and two of his accomplices, Wen Haijiao and Tan Baijiao, given hefty jail terms for their roles in embezzling millions of yuan in public funds
- JULY 7, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Public support of the death penalty runs high in China
Public support of the death penalty runs high in China
- JULY 6, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed more people from April to June 2001...
China executed more people from April to June 2001 than the rest of the world did in the past three years - 1,781 people put to death in a government campaign against crime, Amnesty International said
- JULY 5, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese official admitted that 14 Falun Gong followers...
A Chinese official admitted that 14 Falun Gong followers died in a labour camp - but the government and the spiritual movement have given sharply conflicting accounts of how they died
- JULY 4, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Xinhua news agency, the official Chinese government...
Xinhua news agency, the official Chinese government agency, denied allegations regarding organs being transplanted from executed prisoners
- JULY 3, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Fifteen female Dafa practitioners died due to "brutal...
Fifteen female Dafa practitioners died due to "brutal torture" in the Wanjia Labour Camp, the Falun Gong said
- JULY 3, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China's top policeman urged stronger implementation...
China's top policeman urged stronger implementation of a three month-old "strike hard" crackdown on crime that has already resulted in at least 1,300 executions
- JULY 3, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
FALUN GONG ACCUSES CHINA OF TORTURING PRACTITIONERS TO DEATH
July 3, 2001: fifteen female Dafa practitioners died due to “brutal torture” in the Wanjia Labour Camp, the Falun Gong said.
- JUNE 29, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Eight people, who were found guilty of the crimes for...
Eight people, who were found guilty of the crimes for murder, manslaughter, robbery, blackmail, kidnapping and illegally possessing weapons, were sentenced to death and executed in Chaozhou, a city in south China's Guangdong Province
- JUNE 29, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Twenty-nine public-sentencing rallies were held in...
Twenty-nine public-sentencing rallies were held in Jiangsu to pass judgment, including the death penalty, on 156 drug convicts involved in 114 cases, 62 of which were in Nanjing city
- JUNE 28, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China denied it harvested organs from executed prisoners,...
China denied it harvested organs from executed prisoners, including from some not quite dead, after a Chinese doctor testified to the U
- JUNE 27, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wang Guoqi, a Chinese burn specialist seeking political...
Wang Guoqi, a Chinese burn specialist seeking political asylum in the United States said that as a physician in China, he took part in removing corneas and harvesting skin from more than 100 executed prisoners, including one who had not yet died
- JUNE 27, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In a background briefing on the Wang Guoqi's case, the U
In a background briefing on the Wang Guoqi's case, the U
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai Daily newspaper said that Zhu Qinggang,...
The Shanghai Daily newspaper said that Zhu Qinggang, a 30-year-old trafficker from Sichuan province, was executed "to help mark World Anti-Drug Day"
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On the International Day against Drug Abuse, the local...
On the International Day against Drug Abuse, the local court of the southern island province of Hainan condemned eight people to death for drug trafficking and trading
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Guangxi judicial organs publicly executed Chen Falong,...
Guangxi judicial organs publicly executed Chen Falong, Gan Yuan, Liu Aiguo, Huang Weiguang, Jin Xinbao (female), Zhang Mudong (female), Zhong Qiuqi, Zhang Guo, Chen Shichao, Li Kecai, Song Huaqiang, Lin Mingjian, Zhu Yi, Tan Jiming, Zhang Yueqiang, Wang Z
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Hong Kong residents Tan Hung-chien and Tan Hao-hui...
Hong Kong residents Tan Hung-chien and Tan Hao-hui were condemned to death by the Guangdong Supreme People's Court
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed at least 56 people for drug crimes and...
China executed at least 56 people for drug crimes and staged mass rallies nationwide to mark a UN anti-drug day
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Haikou Intermediate People's Court in Hainan Province...
The Haikou Intermediate People's Court in Hainan Province held a judgment pronouncement rally at the Haikou gymnasium
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Sichuan's Mianyang city convened a judgment rally to...
Sichuan's Mianyang city convened a judgment rally to showcase the initial results from the "Hurricane-C" centralized operation
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six people found guilty of abducting and selling women...
Six people found guilty of abducting and selling women were executed in Jining City, Inner Mongolia
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Haikou Intermediate People's Court in Hainan Province...
The Haikou Intermediate People's Court in Hainan Province found Cao Xiaojun, Yang Qingsong, and Sun Jinglian guilty of murder during a judgment pronouncement rally at the Haikou gymnasium
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Five felons received the death sentence in five cities...
Five felons received the death sentence in five cities of southwest China's Tibet for murder, robbery or bomb attacks
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme People's Court confirmed the death sentences...
The Supreme People's Court confirmed the death sentences handed down to He Aizhen and Chen Chun, peasants from Xinhua County in the Hunan Province
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Criminals Mayidaile, Mayahaiya, and Mayiliangsi were...
Criminals Mayidaile, Mayahaiya, and Mayiliangsi were caught when they were trafficking 200, 268, and 738 grams of heroin, respectively, in Urumqi City at different times since the beginning of 2000
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Two drug-traffickers were executed following a court...
Two drug-traffickers were executed following a court judgment announced at a rally held in the capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China marked the United Nations Anti-Drug Day with...
China marked the United Nations Anti-Drug Day with the execution of at least 50 people for drug crimes and the staging of mass rallies nationwide
- JUNE 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The higher and intermediate people's courts in Urumqi...
The higher and intermediate people's courts in Urumqi City held an open sentencing rally and condemned to death a number of heinous criminals