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
- APRIL 2, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
At least 10 criminals were executed in Shanxi province...
At least 10 criminals were executed in Shanxi province following a public sentencing rally
- APRIL 1, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In April 2001, President Jiang Zemin launched a "strike...
In April 2001, President Jiang Zemin launched a "strike hard" campaign targeting gang-related crime and other violent offences in April
- MARCH 30, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Li Jian, former general manager of the Baihua Industrial...
Li Jian, former general manager of the Baihua Industrial Company, was sentenced to death for a financial fraud involving 336
- MARCH 26, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Five members of an international terrorist grouping...
Five members of an international terrorist grouping that carried out terrorist acts in the Kyrgyzstani city of Osh in May and June 1998 were sentenced to capital punishment
- MARCH 21, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six men were executed in Beijing for separate crimes
Six men were executed in Beijing for separate crimes
- MARCH 20, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Five convicted armed robbers and murderers were sentenced...
Five convicted armed robbers and murderers were sentenced to death in Sichuan province
- MARCH 20, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China welcomed the European Union foreign ministers'...
China welcomed the European Union foreign ministers' decision not to co-sponsor a planned US resolution criticising China's human rights record during the UN Commission on Human Rights
- MARCH 19, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The European Union said it would criticise China during...
The European Union said it would criticise China during the U
- MARCH 19, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Higher People's Court of Beijing ordered the execution...
The Higher People's Court of Beijing ordered the execution of two men, Gao Liangyu and Zhang Jinyu, who were convicted of murder
- MARCH 16, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Han Xuegong given the death penalty at a public hearing...
Han Xuegong given the death penalty at a public hearing by the Second Intermediate People's Court of Beijing because he was convicted of murder and illegal gun possession
- MARCH 16, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Hua Min, Hu Guanghua, Zheng Guowei, Luo Jian, Long...
Hua Min, Hu Guanghua, Zheng Guowei, Luo Jian, Long Fengjie and Wu Zhaojun, six men were executed in Nanchang, in Jiangxi province for a bank robbery in which three people were killed
- MARCH 13, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Hu Changqing, former vice-governor of Jiangxi province,...
Hu Changqing, former vice-governor of Jiangxi province, was sentenced to death for corruption
- MARCH 2, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Xu Jie and Du Jiansheng, two officials from the poor...
Xu Jie and Du Jiansheng, two officials from the poor southwestern province of Guizhou were executed for embezzling 72
- FEBRUARY 23, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed seven people for their role in a multi-billion...
China executed seven people for their role in a multi-billion dollar smuggling scandal
- FEBRUARY 22, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A [unidentified] Singaporean national was executed...
A [unidentified] Singaporean national was executed in China in January for drug trafficking
- FEBRUARY 8, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Seven people involved in the large-scale production...
Seven people involved in the large-scale production of counterfeit bank notes were executed in Shanwei, in South China's Guangdong Province
- FEBRUARY 5, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Six gang members were executed in Jiangsu province
Six gang members were executed in Jiangsu province
- FEBRUARY 5, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Zhangzhou City Intermediate People's Court found...
The Zhangzhou City Intermediate People's Court found Chen Sen, 41, guilty of the premeditated murder of Cai Bixia his young son's teacher, whom he attacked because he believed she discriminated against his son, on October 31, 2000
- FEBRUARY 1, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Lu Benqun, 21; Wang Xiaoming, 21; and Zhu Pingdong,...
Lu Benqun, 21; Wang Xiaoming, 21; and Zhu Pingdong, 17, were sentenced to death by the Xi'an Intermediate People' s Court
- JANUARY 30, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chen Zhiqing, 37, an accountant at the People's Bank...
Chen Zhiqing, 37, an accountant at the People's Bank of China branch in Xining, Qinghai province, was sentenced to death by Xining Intermediate People's Court, for looting 15
- JANUARY 22, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
EU foreign ministers criticised China for its ongoing...
EU foreign ministers criticised China for its ongoing use of the death penalty and its continued human rights violations
- JANUARY 21, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme People's Court People announced that who...
The Supreme People's Court People announced that who are engaged in spying activities, including stealing, detecting, purchasing or leaking state secrets in China will face also the death penalty
- JANUARY 19, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Liao Buhuang and Wu Tongzhu, two men who abducted 154...
Liao Buhuang and Wu Tongzhu, two men who abducted 154 women and two children and made 840,000 yuan from selling them to people in the richer eastern provinces were also executed
- JANUARY 18, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zheng Mingyue, Zheng Mingliang, Liu Jiuwei and Han...
Zheng Mingyue, Zheng Mingliang, Liu Jiuwei and Han Chenggui, all male farmers from Siyang County of Jiangsu Province, were executed in Suqian City of east China's Jiangsu Province for organizing an underground gang who abducted, raped and sold women in Yu
- JANUARY 16, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Both the procuratorate and the court of Mianyang city...
Both the procuratorate and the court of Mianyang city were ordered each to pay 53,528
- JANUARY 16, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed 2 men for murder
China executed 2 men for murder
- JANUARY 16, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed a man for drug dealing
China executed a man for drug dealing
- JANUARY 13, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed 26 people convicted of robbery, rape...
China executed 26 people convicted of robbery, rape and murder as the police mounted a drive to rid the streets of criminals and warn potential offenders ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays
- JANUARY 12, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Alerken Abula, leader of the 113-member East Turkestan...
Alerken Abula, leader of the 113-member East Turkestan Islamic Party of Allah, recently sentenced by Intermediate People's Court of Bayingolin Mongol autonomous prefecture, was executed for planning and committing "terrorist" attacks in the region of Xinj
- JANUARY 11, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Li Yufen, a woman former company manager, was sentenced...
Li Yufen, a woman former company manager, was sentenced to death by the Jilin Higher People's Court for defrauding companies and individuals of more than 38 million yuan (about 4