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
JANUARY 12, 2018ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MURDERER SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER 8 YEARS AT LARGE
A court in east China's Jiangxi Province sentenced a man to death for killing a 17-year-old girl and raping her body eight years ago.
- JANUARY 1, 2018ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In February 2011, China dropped the death penalty for 13 non-violent crimes
In February 2011, China dropped the death penalty for 13 non-violent crimes
DECEMBER 18, 2017ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: THOUSANDS WATCH AS 10 PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN SPORT STADIUM
A court in China has sentenced 10 people to death, mostly for drug-related crimes, in front of thousands of onlookers before taking them away for execution.
JUNE 24, 2017ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: THIRTEEN CHINESE DRUG DEALERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN FRONT OF 10,000 AT PUBLIC STADIUM BEFORE EIGHT ARE WHISKED OFF IN A TRUCK TO BE EXECUTED IMMEDIATELY
Eight were executed straight after the hearing — slammed by human rights activists as barbaric — in the southern city of Shanwei, Guangdong.
- JUNE 24, 2017ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE COURTS SENTENCES 13 DRUG DEALERS TO DEATH IN FRONT OF THOUSANDS
In a joint court case by the Shanwei Intermediate People's Court and the Lufeng People's Court in China, 13 men and women on trial for drug charges were sentenced to death in front of crowds as big as 10,000.
JUNE 22, 2017ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: 12 NANJING DRUG DEALERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Eighteen men were on trial in Nanjing for various offences, ranging from trafficking and possession to drug abuse and re-offending.
JUNE 5, 2017ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: NEW CYBERSECURITY LAW CARRIES DEATH PENALTY FOR SOME OFFENSES
China's latest cybersecurity law came into force last week and the sky did not fall and companies have not shuttered.
MAY 30, 2017ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: LIU ZHIJUN, EX-RAILWAY MINISTER, SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR CORRUPTION
China handed down a suspended death sentence on a former railways minister for corruption, state media said, a case seen as a test of President Xi Jinping’s resolve to crack down on pervasive graft.
APRIL 22, 2017ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN EXECUTED FOR KILLING TWO YOUNG WOMEN, RAPING CORPSE
China’s Supreme People's Court (SPC) announced that a criminal convicted intentional homicide had been executed after the SPC approved the death sentence.
- MARCH 12, 2017ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China's court system concluded 45,000 graft cases in 2016, implicating 63,000 people, a work report of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said Sunday.
China's court system concluded 45,000 graft cases in 2016, implicating 63,000 people, a work report of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said Sunday.
FEBRUARY 28, 2017ChinaDEATH PENALTYCOLOMBIA PROTESTS CHINA'S EXECUTION OF 72-YEAR-OLD DRUG MULE
Colombia's government is protesting China's execution of a retired journalist who was sentenced to death for smuggling cocaine into the Asian country.
- JANUARY 1, 2017ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In February 2011, China dropped the death penalty for 13 non-violent crimes
In February 2011, China dropped the death penalty for 13 non-violent crimes
- DECEMBER 30, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: ARSONIST SENTENCED TO DEATH
A man convicted of setting a bus on fire two years ago was sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court of Liuzhou City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
- DECEMBER 2, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: WRONGLY EXECUTED MAN ACQUITTED BY TOP COURT
Nie Shubin, who was executed 21 years ago for rape and murder, had his conviction overturned by China's top court.
NOVEMBER 15, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA EXECUTES MAN WHO KILLED OFFICIAL AFTER HOME DEMOLISHED
A Chinese man who killed a village official after his home was forcibly demolished was executed, a court
- NOVEMBER 9, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA COURT HANDS DEATH SENTENCE OVER WAREHOUSE BLASTS
A chairman of a Chinese logistics company was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in relation to
OCTOBER 21, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: LAW EXPERTS OPPOSE SENTENCE OF IMMEDIATE EXECUTION
Several Chinese law experts have voiced their opposition to the immediate execution of a suspect who was
- OCTOBER 9, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: CORRUPT YUNNAN PARTY BOSS SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH REPRIEVE
China has sentenced the former Communist Party boss from the southwestern province of Yunnan to death
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTY
DEATH PENALTY UPHELD FOR CHINA ARSONIST
The Higher People's Court of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region rejected the appeal of an
SEPTEMBER 22, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: FORMER FUJIAN VICE GOVERNOR STANDS TRIAL FOR GRAFT
Xu Gang, former vice governor of the southeast China's Fujian province, stood trial for accepting bribes.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINESE PREMIER LI KEQIANG DEFENDS USE OF DEATH PENALTY
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang defended his country’s continued reliance on the death penalty while visiting Ottawa, even as he and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continue to work toward a formal extradition treaty.
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA 'STRICTLY CONTROLS DEATH PENALTY' - WHITE PAPER
China strictly controls the death penalty and employs it with prudence, said a white paper on judical protection of human rights released by the State Council Information Office of China.
- JULY 3, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: BUS ARSONIST WHO KILLED 18 CONDEMNED TO DIE
A man convicted of killing 18 people when he set a public bus on fire in China was sentenced to death, authorities said.
- JUNE 23, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: ZHUHAI COURT SENTENCES 4 DRUG DEALERS TO DEATH
A Court in Zhuhai City in south China’s Guangdong Province sentenced four drug dealers to death, ahead
JUNE 20, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: ORGANS FROM PRISONERS STILL HARVESTED AT A MASSIVE SCALE (REPORT)
A new report claimed that thousands of people are being executed in China in secret and their organs
JUNE 14, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN WHO KILLED 6 PEOPLE DURING A SHOOTING SPREE IN SHANGHAI EXECUTED
A man who killed six people and injured four others with guns and an iron pipe in Shanghai three years ago
- JUNE 14, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA HAS SCALED DOWN DEATH PENALTY AND INCREASED CHECKS SINCE 2012, GOV’T REPORT SAYS
China says that it has scaled down its use of capital punishment since 2012 and second trials of death
MAY 4, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: CAREGIVER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING SENIOR
A caregiver, found guilty of the murder of an elderly woman in her care, was sentenced to death by a court
APRIL 29, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: 'VALENTINE'S DAY' KILLER ACQUITTED OF 1998 MURDER
A Chinese man sentenced to death for the Valentine's Day murder of his girlfriend 18 years ago was
- APRIL 18, 2016ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA SPELLS OUT CRITERIA TO APPLY DEATH PENALTY IN GRAFT CASES
The death penalty will be applicable to corrupt leaders who embezzle funds or accept bribes of over $463,000, China’s Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Prosecutor’s Office, the country’s highest judicial authorities, ruled.